ASHEVILLE, N.C. ? The UNC Asheville women's soccer team will look for its first victories of the season when the Bulldogs compete in the Jacksonville Invitational on Friday and Sunday.
Asheville battles Georgia State Friday at 5 p.m. and then competes against host Jacksonville Sunday starting at 2 p.m.
The Bulldogs (0-4-1) have played better in their last two outings. Asheville tied UT-Martin Sunday, 0-0 as goalkeeper Veronica Lazar made 13 saves in the match.
On Wednesday at Southern Conference power Furman, the Bulldogs trailed 1-0 late in the match before freshman forward Leilani Halkiotis scored in the 82nd minute to tie the game at 1-1. The Paladins would win the match on a golden goal in overtime, 2-1.
Despite the loss, Asheville head coach Michele Cornish was pleased with how her team competed at Furman.
“Furman is a very good team that beat us pretty handily last season (6-1),” commented Cornish. “We really competed last night and played them pretty tough. We're not satisfied that we came close but we're making improvement.”
This will be the first time that Asheville has played both Georgia State and Jacksonville. Georgia State is off to its best start in school history with a 5-0-0 record. Jacksonville is 1-2-1 on the season.
“We're facing a very good Georgia State team on Friday,” declared Cornish. “They're a legitimate 5-0 and have been quite dominant in their matches.
“Jacksonville is a solid squad and has simply been a little unlucky in its losses,” added Cornish. “We're played better but we're going to have to play even better this weekend against two high-quality teams.”
