Men's Soccer to Play Two Matches at Hyatt Shootout in Nashville

NASHVILLE, TENN. - The UNC Asheville men's soccer team will travel to Nashville this weekend to take part in the Hyatt Place Select Shootout that will be held at Lipscomb University.

The Bulldogs will play two matches during the tournament. They'll take on the host Lipscomb Friday night at 7:30 p.m. CST and Belmont on Sunday at Noon CST.

Asheville (1-4-1) has endured a tough schedule in the first part of the season losing to national powers North Carolina and Georgetown. The Bulldogs are hoping to get some momentum going this weekend.

"We need to play better than we've been playing," commented Asheville coach Steve Cornish. "We just have not put 90 minutes together yet and that's what we need to do to win matches. Hopefully, this weekend we will be able to accomplish that but it won't be easy."

The Bulldogs are coming off a disappointing 2-1 loss to USC Upstate on Wednesday at home. Asheville fell behind 2-0 in the first half before dominating the game in the second half. The home team got a goal from red-shirt freshman Eli Morrow but could not get the equalizer.

"We didn't play very well in the first half but bounced back in the second half," admitted Cornish. "Hopefully, our lads learned a valuable lesson that you must be ready to play from the first whistle."

This is the second straight year the Bulldogs have participated in this tournament. Asheville split a pair of matches in 2008. The Dogs defeated Belmont 3-2 before falling to Lipscomb 3-1. Lipscomb's three goals against Asheville was the most any team scored against the Bulldogs last season.

"Both Lipscomb and Belmont are like us. They have faced strong schedules in the first part of the season, making it tough to get results," declared Cornish.

Lipscomb is 2-2-1 on the season, while Belmont is 0-3-1. Alabama A&M is also in the tournament, but the Bulldogs will not play them.