University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Liberty
Men's Soccer Falls in Big South Tournament to Liberty, 1-0
11.13.2009 | Men's Soccer
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - A first half goal by Alex Verville proved to be the game-winner as No. 3 seed Liberty downed the No. 6 seed UNC Asheville, 1-0, in the third game of the 2009 Big South Men's Soccer Championship Friday at Gardner-Webb's Greene-Harbison Field in Boiling Springs, N.C. The Flames will play the winner of No. 2 High Point/No. 7 Radford Saturday night at 7:00pm in the semifinals, its fourth consecutive appearance in the semifinals.
It was a defensive struggle for almost the first 20 minutes until Liberty took the first lead of the match in the 17th minute when sophomore Timothy Bullock sent a ball across to Alex Verville who put it past UNC Asheville keeper Lassi Huskainen for his second goal of the season.
In the 29th minute UNC Asheville had a great opportunity when David Wood intercepted a Liberty pass, sending the lose ball heading toward the Liberty goal. Flames keeper Andrew Madero came 30 yards off the line to block the initial attack. Wood scrambled to the rebound and sent a shot from his knees toward the wide open goal but rolled just right.
Both teams managed only one shot on goal in the first half.
The second half continued to be a physical defensive battle on both sides as the second period finished scoreless and Liberty advanced on a 1-0 victory.
"With playing Liberty a few days ago, we made adjustments and knew we had to play a high temp game," stated UNC Asheville coach Steve Cornish. "We kind of broke in the first half, but rebounded in the second. I'm very proud of these guys. It's hard to win with freshmen and sophomores, but I'm looking forward to the future."
Liberty was led by Verville who scored the game's lone goal with Bullock on the assist. UNC Asheville received two shots on goal by Bryan Bartels.
Liberty outshot UNC Asheville, 15-6, while holding a 4-2 advantage on shots on goal. Liberty led the game with nine corner kicks compared to UNC Asheville's two. Andrew Madero (11-4-3) recorded two saves for the Flames and Hurskainen (6-10-1) stopped three shots for the Bulldogs.
Liberty improves to 11-4-3 on the year, while UNC Asheville ends its season at 6-12-2.
