University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Men's Soccer Opens at Top-Ranked UNC Chapel Hill
08.31.2009 | Men's Soccer
Both teams went unbeaten in exhibition play as Asheville topped Catawba 3-1 in its only "friendly." The Tar Heels went 3-0 in exhibition play with victories over Georgetown, VCU and Old Dominion. North Carolina went to the College Cup championship match last year.
Steve Cornish will bring a very young team into Fetzer Field Tuesday night. The Bulldogs have no juniors or seniors on this year's roster. Asheville gave UNC a battle last season before falling, 2-1.
"We played pretty well against North Carolina last season, but this is a different team we're bringing to Chapel Hill on Tuesday," admitted Cornish. "The sophomores who were with us last season saw the effort we gave last season. Hopefully, we can get that kind of effort on Tuesday and have another great match."
Cornish knows there's a good reason why North Carolina is ranked so high in the preseason.
"North Carolina is very good," explained Cornish. "They really came on at the end of last season and have looked quite impressive in the preseason. We must play disciplined soccer from start to finish."
One experienced player from last year's game is sophomore goalkeeper Lassi Hurskainen. He played in every minute of every match a year ago. Hurskainen made four saves against the Tar Heels last season as the Bulldogs played a man down for most of the match.
Sophomore forward Bryan George is the top scorer back from last year with three goals.
Asheville plays its home opener against Brevard Friday afternoon starting at 4 p.m.
