University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Women's Soccer Opens Big South Play at Radford on Friday
10.01.2009 | Women's Soccer
Asheville is 3-3-1 on the season and has not played since Sept. 20th when the Bulldogs tied Southern Conference champion Western Carolina 0-0 on the Catamounts home field.
The time off came at a very good time, according to head coach Michele Cornish.
"We've had some injuries since the start of the year and the past week has allowed us to get healed up a little bit," commented Cornish. "We're looking forward to beginning Big South Conference play. Every match will be difficult, and we have two tough ones on the road to start the year."
Asheville battles a Radford squad that won the Big South Tournament last season. The Bulldogs played two close games against the Highlanders in 2008 but losing both of them. RU edged Asheville 3-2 at Greenwood Field to finish out the regular season. Five days later, the Highlanders slipped past the Bulldogs 2-1 in overtime during the quarterfinals of the tournament.
"We've always had great matches with Radford," said Cornish. "They're a very good team and can score goals in a hurry."
VMI was the surprise of the Big South last season. The Keydets went 10-10-1 last year and defeated Asheville 1-0 for their first ever victory over the Bulldogs.
"VMI is well-coached and always plays hard," stated Cornish. "We've never had an easy match with them."
NOTES - UNC Asheville has played nine straight one-goal or less matches dating back to last season...freshman forward Chole McCleary-Small is the Bulldogs leading scorer with three goals and seven points...Asheville has only allowed two goals in the second half the entire season...senior goalkeeper Veronica Lazar has a 0.77 goals-against-average this year.
