Box Score HARTSVILLE, S.C. – A second half goal would not be enough as the University of South Carolina Aiken Men's Soccer team fell 2-1 to Coker on Saturday evening at the Coker Soccer Field.
Neither team was able to find the back of the net in the first 36 minutes of the match, but in the 37th-minute Coker's Rommel Fondin placed the Cobras ahead 1-0 off an assist from Fernando Bedoya.
The score would remain 1-0 in favor of the Cobras at intermission, but just under four minutes into the second half, Carson Villa (Savannah, Ga./Benedictine) struck from 25 yards out to pull the Pacers even at 1-1.
The goal was the first of the year for Villa.
Coker (4-1) was able to retake the lead at 2-1 a little while later when Carlos Recinos slotted the ball into the lower left corner of the goal in the 62nd-minute off an assist from Bedoya.
USC Aiken (2-5) would not be able to obtain an equalizer down the stretch as Coker held on for the one-goal victory.
Coker owned a slight 10-7 advantage in shots in the match. The Cobras owned a 7-4 advantage in corner kick opportunities.
The Pacers will next close out the month of September with two home games, beginning with a home game against national No. 21 Mars Hill at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 21. The Pacers own a 2-0 all-time series advantage over Mars Hill.
USC Aiken will square off against Lenoir-Rhyne for the first time since 2002 in its final game of the month of September. The Pacers and Bears will kick things off at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 24.
