CCU women’s soccer reaches Big South semis

Coastal Carolina women’s soccer coach Paul Hogan acknowledged earlier this week that it can be tricky sometimes playing the same team in back-to-back games.

But that didn’t seem to be the case for his Chanticleers on Sunday.

After closing the regular-season Tuesday with a three-goal shutout win over Charleston Southern, the Chants opened the Big South tournament even more impressively with a 5-0 win at home over the Buccaneers to advance to the conference semifinals.

Junior defender Amber Adams finished with two goals and an assist, freshman forward Kayla Christian had a goal and an assist, and junior midfielder Sam Patterson and sophomore forward Daniella Famili also added goals in the win.

The No. 2-seeded Chants (12-6-1) will play No. 3 Campbell (13-6) on Friday as the tournament moves to Bryan Park in Greensboro, N.C., for the semifinals and finals.

“Very pleased. To win 5-nill is pretty impressive, in the conference tournament especially,” Hogan said. “I was probably more nervous and our staff was more nervous than our kids, just because we know how it is. They just came out and played really well, they executed, they did what we wanted them to do and didn’t let Charleston have a part in the game. I think once we scored early, that second goal, they were done.”

Adams’ goals were her sixth and seventh of the season, and she and Christian staked the Chants to a 3-0 lead after 45 minutes, 22 seconds Sunday. Christian and Famili, meanwhile, remain tied for the team lead now with nine goals each.

It was a pretty thorough win as Coastal Carolina outshot Charleston Southern (7-9-2) 19-9 overall and allowed only three shots on goal.

“I think it shows that we’re ready to play any team that comes our way,” Adams said. “We’re fired up to try to get this win in the Big South tournament and go to the NCAA tournament.”

Next up for the Chants is Campbell, which won the teams’ regular-season meeting 1-0 back on Oct. 15 in Buies Creek, N.C.

“I think it will be a good game, but just the fact that they beat us before will make us want to beat them even more,” Famili said.

The Chants are in the semifinals for the second straight season and hoping to break through for the program’s first NCAA tournament berth.

Meanwhile, their 12 wins this season marks the most in Hogan’s five seasons with the program.

“It’s exciting. To get this kind of start in the conference tournament is what we want,” Hogan said. “The girls’ main goal is to win the conference tournament. The regular season was great, but the conference tournament is their goal. The girls are focused. They know this time of year it’s one and done, so I think they’re excited playing.”

Ryan Young: 843-626-0318, @RyanYoungTSN

This story was originally published November 1, 2015 at 9:00 PM with the headline "CCU women’s soccer reaches Big South semis."