In its second game in three days Monday, UNCW’s men’s soccer team quickly recuperated from its home-opener loss to Campbell, defeating Coastal Carolina 2-1.

“We were definitely fatigued,” said senior Justin Schatz, who scored the game-winning goal for UNCW, “but we knew that if we came out here and worked hard we’d get a win, and all the fatigue would go away once we won.”

The victory was a huge step up for the Seahawks, who lost to Coastal 6-0 last season.

“Last year we had a really bad year, but things are changing around here,” sophomore Jason Small said. “(Coastal Carolina) is better than the last team we played, but we’re better than we used to be too.”

Seven of UNCW’s starters are underclassmen this season, which, combined with new head coach Aidan Heaney, create an entirely different dynamic from last year’s 4-15-1 squad.

But it was the veterans who cinched Heaney his first win at UNCW. The 2000 Most Valuable Player Tommy Miller recorded two assists, starting off his senior season on a high note.

Senior Nikola Milivojevic scored the first goal of the game for UNCW at the 12:22 mark, kicking the ball past Chanticleers goalie Eric Sullivan after a header attempt by Miller rebounded out. Small, who also recorded an assist on Milivojevic’s goal, took three shots, but was unable to capitalize on any of his opportunities.

Sophomore Joseph Ngwenya scored the Chanticleers’ only goal at the 73:12 mark, dribbling from midfield and beating UNCW goalie Bill Mills for the goal.

Then, with 17:27 to play in the game, Small got a breakaway and barely missed the goal for the game winner, hitting the crossbar and bouncing off.

“I had a couple of breakaways where I couldn’t finish,” Small said. “I tried to make up for it when I shot that ball and hit the crossbar. It’ll come though.”

But in the midst of an extremely physical second half, Schatz scored the game-winning goal for the Seahawks at the 75:09 mark, beating his defenders and slipping the ball under the goalie.

A game that was intense on both ends of the field became even more intense following Schatz’s goal, and the officials gave three yellow cards to UNCW players in the final 15 minutes of the game. Referee Joe Biava gave out five yellow cards to UNCW players over the course of the game, and gave one to Coastal Carolina.

When Heaney challenged a call from the UNCW bench late in the game, Biava asserted, “Your guys are just taking down men like it’s nothing.”

Despite the physicality of the game and the harsh officiating, UNCW was able to maintain its one-goal lead for the final 15 minutes of the game, building a 1-1 record and dropping the Chanticleers to 0-2.

“We played extremely well… But we look at this as just a start,” Heaney said. “not just the start of our season, but the start of our program.”