University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Elon (Exhibition)
Men's Soccer Outlasts Elon 2-1
08.17.2011 | Men's Soccer
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - UNC Asheville got a goal from A.J. Iiames and Tim Kynast as the Bulldogs outlasted Elon 2-1 in an exhibition men's soccer match at Greenwood Field Wednesday afternoon.
The teams played three 40-minutes halves in the exhibition match. Each team's starters played in the first two halves with reserves playing the final 40 minutes. Asheville's goal from Iiames was the only goal in the first two halves.
"We accomplished a great deal today," declared Bulldog coach Matt Kern. "We played everybody who could play and all of them got some valuable experience against an excellent Elon team.
"I thought we held our poise pretty well throughout the day," added Kern. "We gave up possession a little too much but all-in-all it was a good test for our players. There's still plenty to work on but this was a nice start."
Elon controlled much of the play early and just missed scoring five minutes into the match when Chris Thomas' shot hit the cross bar from five yards out. The Phoenix just missed scoring on the rebound when it was called off-sides.
Asheville began to play better toward the end of the first 40-minute half. The Bulldogs fired their three shots of the half in the last 10 minutes with the final one going into the goal just before the half ended.
On a corner kick, Kye Grooms sent the ball into the goal area where Iiames got his foot on it and lifted it into the back of the goal for a 1-0 Asheville lead with 18 seconds remaining.
In the second half, the Bulldogs kept up the momentum and nearly made it 2-0 when a shot from Bryan George hit the cross bar.
Senior Asheville goalkeeper Lassi Hurskainen kept Elon off the scoreboard with two saves in the second half and four for the match.
In the third 40-minute session, Tim Kynast picked up a pass from Eli Morrow. Kynast then hit a shot from 25 yards out that curled into the left-back of the net to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 advantage.
Elon countered in the 75th minute when Jordan Smith scored on a breakaway to cut the lead to 2-1.
The Phoenix came close to tying the match twice as one shot went wide with 10 minutes left before freshman goalkeeper Dan Jackson made a nice save on a Matt Wescoe shot with four minutes remaining.
Elon out-shot Asheville 14-8. The Bulldogs had nine corner-kicks to six for Elon. Asheville had six corners in the second 40-minute half.
The Bulldogs will play their second and final exhibition match Saturday afternoon vs. Mars Hill at Greenwood Field starting at 2 p.m. Asheville opens the 2011 season vs. Mercer at home on Aug. 27 at 2 p.m.
