One goal against the Georgia State Panthers was all the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers needed to win their first Sun Belt title. Jair Espinosa scored halfway through the second half as the Chanticleers defeated the Panthers, 1-0, in the Sun Belt championship game at GSU Soccer Complex in Decatur, Georgia.
The game was scoreless through 45 minutes, with the Panthers gaining a little more control of the game after some heavy pressure by the Chanticleers. The Coastal pressure continued into the first portion of the second half, and it paid off as Jair Espinosa broke the deadlock with 22:06 left in regulation.
Goal @CoastalMSoccer! Jair Espinoza puts the Chants up 1-0 in the second half of the championship match#FunBelt pic.twitter.com/cmBH998MF8
— #FunBelt (@SunBelt) November 13, 2016
Georgia State would have several chances to equalize the contest late but couldn’t get the tying goal, and Coastal would hold on to win the Sun Belt men’s soccer title. They advance to the NCAA tournament for the 12th time under head coach Shawn Docking and grab the conference’s automatic bid in their first year in the league.
Kwaku Adu, Hannes Burmeister and Liam Fitzsimmons landed on the conference’s all-tournament team along with Georgia Southern’s Emil Laursen. Coastal Carolina’s Jair Espinosa was named the tournament’s most outstanding player after his game winning goal in the championship game.