CCU women’s soccer set for home opener

Paul Hogan has made consistent progress in his first four seasons guiding the Coastal Carolina women’s soccer program, and last year the Chanticleers posted their most wins since 2008.

But to continue that upward trajectory this fall, the Chants will first have to address a question they don’t have an answer for just yet.

Coastal Carolina went 11-8-2 last season while reaching the semifinals of the Big South tournament as senior Kacey Kelley racked up 12 goals and five assists on her way to winning the conference’s attacking player of the year award.

Kelley finished the season with 12 of the team’s 27 goals on the year; no returning player tallied more than three goals in 2014.

“I think we’re still trying to figure that out,” Hogan said. “… That’ll be a work in progress. I just don’t think we can replace that many goals [with] one player. It’s got to be by committee and hopefully our committee starts scoring more goals.”

The Chants, who have their home opener Friday night at 7 p.m. against Georgia Southern, have opened the season 1-1 on the road with a 2-1 win at Wofford and a 4-1 loss at Charlotte.

But Hogan is mostly encouraged by what he’s seen thus far.

“I think the seniors have come back by far in their best fitness level they’ve ever come in at. They’ve been playing really well,” he said. “In the first game [the team showed] resilience. We came back, we were down a goal and played really poorly in the first half, but I think we played much better the second half and capitalized on our chances. Against Charlotte, we were down a goal and came back and scored to tie it up and then gave it away late.

“But there’s signs there that we can be a pretty good team if we keep continuing that same trajectory.”

Hogan has leaned on a veteran core to set the tone, led by senior defender Mikayla Williams, senior midfielder Darbie Kelley, senior midfielder Camille Christie – “the spirit of the group,” he says – and junior midfielder Sam Patterson.

Hogan says he’s not fixated on any target win total; in fact, he intentionally loaded the non-conference schedule with challenges to test his team on the road, where the Chants struggled last year. After Friday night, the team plays four straight road games, including a tilt at No. 8-ranked South Carolina on Sunday.

It’s all to get the Chants ready for the conference schedule – because, ultimately, that’s where this team will be judged.

“Every year is big. We always want to make strides in our conference,” Hogan said. “This is definitely the hardest schedule we’ve ever played, playing so many road games. All these teams we’re playing are from bigger conferences, much better RPIs, so every game is going to be a challenge for us. There’s no cupcake, if you will. …

“And I told the girls before the year they’re all opportunities. All we want is the chance to be special on a given night.”

This story was originally published August 27, 2015 at 4:00 PM with the headline "CCU women’s soccer set for home opener."