BUIES CREEK, N.C. - A goal in each half by UNC Asheville's Victor Aguiar spoiled Campbell's season finale at the Eakes Athletics Complex on Saturday evening as the Camels fell 2-0 on Senior Night.
Prior to the match, seniors Aleksi Tossavainen, Bryce Miller, Jhuvon Francis, Scooter Oliver and Chirag Shah, along with juniors Michael Wisniewski and Cesar Gonzalez, were honored in a ceremony commemorating their time with the program.
Freshman Bradley Farias also received the team's Jim McVeigh Award as its most outstanding freshman, while Tossavainen captured the Glen Brewster Memorial Award for leadership and courage for the second time in his career. He is just the fourth Camel to win the award twice after also earning it in 2011.
The Camels (5-12-0, 2-7-0 BSC) had chances to get onto the scoresheet, outshooting the Bulldogs (5-8-3, 3-4-2 BSC) by a 9-4 margin in attempts on goal. Francis led all players with four shots on goal while Farias also notched a pair. Aguiar led the Bulldogs with three of their four chances.
Campbell also held a sizable 8-1 advantage in corner opportunities, but UNC Asheville goalkeeper Dan Jackson, the nation's leader in saves, made nine stops and earned the third straight shutout for the Bulldogs.
Both sides had chances in the first 20 minutes on headers. In the 15th minute, Cesar Gonzalez connected with Miller in the box off a corner, but Miller's header fell into the hands of Jackson. Just two minutes later, a header from Aguiar tested redshirt freshman Matthew Mozynski, who came away with his first save of the night.
The Camels came up with four shots in a three-minute span later in the half, with the best attempt coming off the foot of Francis in the 30th minute; Jackson made the save to maintain the deadlock.
Francis nearly put the Camels ahead with another attempt five minutes later. Farias played in a corner from the left side and the Kingston, Jamaica, native hammered it down with his head, but Jackson was again there for the stop.
UNC Asheville grabbed a 1-0 advantage at 40:03 on a hard strike by Aguiar. Zach Joens played the ball in to the top of the box, and Aguiar found enough space to send the blast into the top right corner from 20 yards out. The Bulldogs would carry that 1-0 lead into the halftime break.
Campbell came out of the locker room with the first four shots of the second half. Junior Reafe Anderson and sophomore Tunji Osifeso each had shots ricochet off Bulldog defenders, but Francis once again used his head to put a chance on goal off an Hernan Mogollon corner kick. The senior had power behind the shot, but Jackson maintained his clean sheet with another save.
The Bulldogs added an insurance goal at 74:36 as Aguiar found the back of the net for his second goal of the night. Tevin Beckwith slotted a pass into the box from the left side and Aguiar beat Mozynski to the lower right corner for the 2-0 lead with just over 15 minutes remaining.
Sophomore Matt Martinez launched a hard shot from 40 yards in the 84th minute looking to pull one back for Campbell and Jackson was forced to work, making a leaping save as the shot fell to him.
The Camels will be back in action on Tuesday as they open postseason play at top-seeded Radford in the first round of the 2014 Big South Conference Tournament at 6 p.m. Campbell pushed the Highlanders into overtime before falling 3-2 in their regular season meeting on Oct. 11, also played on Radford's home field.
