Pina finds a home in net for Coastal Carolina

An untimely rash of injuries has made for a trying and turbulent last few weeks of the season for the once-surging Coastal Carolina men’s soccer team.

The Chanticleers expect to have several key starters out yet again Thursday night as they open NCAA tournament play at home against North Florida, but one mainstay they haven’t had to worry about is junior goalkeeper Fernando Pina.

And with those losses in manpower taking a significant toll on the team’s offense, Pina has only become more important to the Chants’ hopes for making an extended postseason run.

“He’s been great. He’s an excellent shot stopper, he’s been a good leader for us, a very good goalkeeper. He comes up with big, big saves, so we’re really pleased he’s here,” Chants coach Shaun Docking said.

For his part, Pina is thankful to be where he is as well.

The goalkeeper’s collegiate career was on hiatus when he left Akron after starting as a redshirt-freshman in 2013. He simply felt it wasn’t where he wanted to be, and to compound the situation, he then missed the following season while recovering from ankle surgery.

“As soon as I went to Akron I never thought I was going to leave the place, but it’s just something you have to work with it and not hesitate,” Pina said. “If you make a decision you have to be all in on it. I thought about it, talked to my parents, talked to coaches and I looked at the big picture and now I’m here.”

Docking, meanwhile, was familiar with Pina, who had played for the U.S. under-17 national team and was ranked as the 10th-best recruit in the country coming out of high school by TopDrawerSoccer.com.

The Chants also happened to have room on the roster for a goalkeeper, and both sides soon agreed it would be a good fit for both parties.

“I’ve known him since he was 14-years old through ODP and with the national team stuff, so I’ve known who he is and about him,” Docking said. “I’ve always followed his progress, and I know the guys at Akron really well. I talk to them on a pretty regular basis and found out he left there or was leaving there. We got his release and got in contact with him. It was kind of an eight-month process getting here.”

After taking a semester off, Pina arrived in January with plenty of motivation to get his collegiate soccer career back on track.

And with this season and next remaining in terms of his eligibility, he didn’t want to waste any time in making that happen.

“My main goal was just to be 100 percent and give it all I got because this is basically the one chance I had, the last chance I had,” he said. “I had to prove the background I have, being on the national team, playing in a certain amount of games and qualifiers. But my main goal was just to win the starting position and take it one day at a time.”

Said Docking: “I think he feels pressure on himself over the next year and a half to do really well and take advantage of it so he can become a professional.”

So far, so good.

Pina played a key role as Coastal Carolina opened the season 12-1-1 and climbed as high as No. 4 in national polls.

The Chants have gone 0-1-3 in their last four games while dealing with injury setbacks, but they’ve allowed only two goals in that stretch. For the season, they’ve allowed just 0.67 goals per game with nine shutouts.

Scoring will no doubt be at a premium again Thursday night against North Florida, so the Chants’ ability to keep the Ospreys out of the net will be key to keeping the season going.

And from his perspective, Pina still believes he can play better.

“I’ll never be satisfied with myself. I always want more, I always want to get better,” he said. “I’ve had some great games and I’ve had not so good games, but just learn from the bad games and learn from the good games and don’t hold on to anything.”

This story was originally published November 18, 2015 at 7:57 PM with the headline "Pina finds a home in net for Coastal Carolina."