University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Eastern Illinois
Men's Soccer Blanks Eastern Illinois, 3-0
09.05.2010 | Men's Soccer
The Bulldogs (1-1-0) won their first match of the year and gave first-year Asheville coach Matt Kern his first victory. Kern's club scored three goals in the first half to lead 3-0 and held on against the Panthers in the second. Asheville goalkeeper Lassi Hurskainen recorded his first shutout of the season with three saves.
"We played very well today, easily our best soccer of the year," stated Kern. "I thought we did a lot of great things in the first half and all of our goals were very nice plays. In the second half, we held back a little but controlled play overall. We're very happy to get our first win, and now we'll get ready for Brevard on Wednesday."
The Bulldogs got going quickly on Sunday as they scored in the first minute of the match. Bryan George fed Bryan Bartels, who scored at 1:55 to give Asheville a quick 1-0 lead.
Conner Holzinger and Hagedorn took over next for the Men of Matt Kern. Leading 1-0, Holzinger made a nifty pass to Hagedorn inside the box, who then knocked the ball into the goal for a 2-0 Asheville lead at 16:07.
A little more than 10 minutes later the duo struck again on a corner kick. Holzinger sent a corner kick into the goal area and Hagedorn headed the ball into the back of the net for a 3-0 Asheville at 27:41.
The Bulldogs ended the first half with a 7-3 advantage in shots.
Eastern Illinois had the better of play in the second half as the Panthers out-shot Asheville, 9-0. But the Bulldogs defense stood strong and Hurskainen made two saves to keep EIU off the scoreboard.
After the tournament, it was announced that three Bulldogs made the All-Tournament team. They were Jake Sides, Jake Hagedorn and Connor Holzinger.
Asheville plays its home opener vs. Brevard on Wednesday afternoon at Greenwood Field starting at 4 p.m. The match will be video-streamed as part of the Big South Conference Network with broadcast time starting at 3:50 p.m.
