BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Sam Roberson scored a brace in the second half to help lead the Fighting Camels to a 4-0 victory over UNCW in the first round of the CAA Championship, Thursday night at Eakes Athletics Complex.
 
It's the first win in the CAA Championship for Campbell in its first appearance, who joined the league three years ago. The result is the first in Campbell's favor since a 5-0 win over Presbyterian in the Big South Championship exactly three years ago on Nov. 6, 2022.
 
Luc Lavielle added a second half goal of his own, as the two-seed in the South Division Campbell (10-5-4) erupted for three goals in the span of three minutes and 45 seconds against the number three seed Seahawks (5-9-2).
 
Campbell opened the scoring in the 13^th minute. Evans Dapaah took a quick free kick from the Campbell half and sent it long to Marco Wright running down the left wing. Wright cut into the box and sent a low cross across the face of goal. A UNCW defender was there to clear the danger, but his clearance deflected off a teammate and into the back of the net for an own goal.
 
CU recorded five shots in the first half to UNCW's six, but the teams entered the locker room at the half with Campbell maintaining the one-goal advantage.
 
The Camels' offensive explosion began with Roberson's first goal in the 78^th minute. After CU played the ball into the box, Ethan Roberts passed it out to Kristijan Bandur who played the ball towards the net. UNCW's Trey Smiley came to knock it away but could not maintain control. Roberson was first to the loose ball and poked it home.
 
In the 80^th minute, CU won possession on its side of midfield, when Roberts played a long through ball to Roberson behind the back line. He converted the one-on-one opportunity against the keeper to secure a brace and double his season score tally from two to four.
 
Campbell's final goal came in the 82^nd minute by way of Lotem Ben Dov and Luc Lavielle on another counterattack. After Ben Dov secured possession in the defensive third, he sent a long ball, switching the field to Lavielle streaking down the left side.
 
Smiley came out of his box to clear the ball, but Lavielle beat him to it and sidestepped past the sliding goalkeeper. Lavielle then curled the ball into the net all the way from the far sideline to close out the scoring.
 
A physical match from beginning to end, 41 fouls were called between the two squads, with Campbell accounting for 22 of them. Only three yellow cards were shown in the match, two to the Seahawks and one to CU.
 
Only one corner kick was taken all night, in the 88^th minute by UNCW. The Seahawks were called for three offsides compared to two by Campbell.
 
NEXT UP
The Camels head up to Elon for a Sunday matchup against the one-seed in the CAA Championship semifinals. The action will begin at 6:00 and streamed live on FloCollege.
 
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