The College of Charleston men’s soccer team delivered one of its biggest wins in recent memory Monday night, defeating No. 15 North Carolina 2–0 at Patriots Point.
The Cougars, who entered the match 0–3, handed the Tar Heels their first loss of the season and earned their second straight victory over a ranked opponent in as many years.
After a scoreless first half, Charleston broke through in the 67th minute. Junior Matt Lenert pounced on a deflection in the box and buried it for his first goal of the year. Less than six minutes later, the Cougars struck again. Following a UNC turnover at midfield, sophomore Ben Bagshaw weaved around a defender and slipped a pass to Stian Bendvold, who sent it across the box for an easy tap-in by graduate student Pavel Dashin.
Charleston controlled the match from there, holding North Carolina to just one shot on target. Graduate student goalkeeper Jourdan Schumacher recorded the shutout, his first career win in a Cougar uniform.
The victory marked Charleston’s second clean sheet over UNC in program history and the first since a 3–0 win in 1995. The Cougars also improved to 3–5–1 all-time against the Tar Heels. Bagshaw, meanwhile, continued his strong start to the season with an assist, giving him points in each of Charleston’s four matches.
CofC (1–3) will look to build on the momentum when it opens Coastal Athletic Association play at Elon on September 6, with kickoff at noon and streaming live on FloCollege.
Keep the Momentum Going
Beating a top-15 program on our home field shows what Charleston soccer is capable of. If we want more nights like this, the best way fans can make that happen is by supporting Men’s Soccer’s S.T.A.R.R. (Student-Athlete Recruitment and Retention) Fund. This fund goes directly to Charleston men’s soccer and the student-athletes who just put CofC on the national stage. And it’s 100% tax deductible!
👉 Make your donation to the S.T.A.R.R. Fund today.
This is how we keep building. This is how we keep winning. Let’s turn Monday night’s upset into the first step of something even bigger for CofC Soccer.