THE RUNDOWN

Score: Asheville 3 - No. 4 Coastal Carolina 2

Teams: Asheville (4-5-1, 1-2 BSC)

No. 4 Coastal Carolina (7-1-1, 2-1 BSC)

Location: Greenwood Field/Asheville, N.C.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Chucka Anayafo's goal with less than eight minutes to play pushed the UNC Asheville men's soccer team past No. 4 Coastal Carolina Sunday afternoon with a 3-2 victory in Big South Conference action at Greenwood Field.

THE TURNING POINT

After taking the lead twice earlier in the game and seeing Coastal respond to tie the game, the Bulldogs used a pair of passes from Joe LaCasto and Brandon Millington to the foot of Anyafo, who buried the goal in the corner of the net moments after coming into the contest as a substitute.

NOTABLES

- Brendan O'Dowd put Asheville on top in the fifth minute with his goal before Coastal knotted the game in the 36th minute.

-Moments before the half, Andrew Lawrence headed home a rebound to give Asheville a 2-1 halftime lead. Coastal tied the game in the 56th minute and the game remained that way until Anyafo's late winner.

-Goalkeeper Zak Davis finished with five saves, as Coastal finished with 11 total shots but just seven shots on goal.

-The victory was Asheville's first against a ranked opponent in two years. The last time the Bulldogs faced a ranked opponent was also their last win against a ranked opponent - Nov. 2, 2013, when the Bulldogs took down then-No. 6 Coastal Carolina at Greenwood Field.

QUOTABLES

“Obviously this was a great win over a very good program. Coastal has long been the gold standard in the Big South Conference. The part that I'm most proud of is that I thought we were the better side today. We had the lead three times and Coastal showed their quality and answered back twice. We were fortunate enough to grab the lead a third time and make it stand up at the end of 90 minutes. Very pleased with our progress, we got very close to turning in a complete performance in all three phases of the game – attacking, defensive and set pieces. Overall I'm pleased with the way we played, but there's stuff we can continue to work on but it is nice when it comes together. We will celebrate this but quite honestly we have to get right back to work with Gardner-Webb on Wednesday. As we saw today, the Big South Conference is very competitive and every match is up for grabs. It was great to be able to put this performance on in front of our home fans.” - Head Coach Mathes Mennell

UP NEXT

-Following today's win, the Bulldogs begin a three-match road trip beginning at Gardner-Webb Wednesday, Oct. 14.