University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Mars Hill (Exhibition)
Men's Soccer Rallies Past Mars Hill, 4-3
08.20.2011 | Men's Soccer
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - UNC Asheville scored twice in the final half to rally past Mars Hill, 4-3 in a men's soccer college exhibition match Saturday night at Greenwood Field.
The teams play three 30-minutes halves on the night as each team is preparing for the 2011 season.
The Bulldogs overcame a 2-0 and 3-1 deficit to post the exhibition win.
"We came out very flat and Mars Hill made us pay dearly for that," commented Asheville coach Matt Kern. "We got better as the match went on but we have to play better from the start. Mars Hill will win a lot of matches this year. They have a very good team.
"Our guys know they have stuff to work on but I will say when we did get going, we played some good soccer," added Kern.
Trailing 3-2 after the first two periods, the Bulldogs tied things up in the 10th minute of the third period. Tim Kynast made a nice pass to Sam Rossabi who scored on a shot from 10 yards to make it 3-3.
The winning goal came 10 minutes later as Nick Stemkowski connected from five out to put Asheville in front for good at 4-3.
Freshman goalkeeper Dan Jackson made two saves in the final 10 minutes to preserve the exhibition victory.
MHC dominated the Bulldogs early. They out-shot Asheville 10-1 in the first 30 minutes and had total control of the match. Rory Caulfield got the Lions on board in 13th minute when he scored on a penalty kick to make it 1-0. Late in the first period, Mars Hill tacked on a second goal when Malati Giovani scored to push the lead to 2-0.
The Bulldogs got back in the game early in the second period when a shot from Bryan George was deflected into the MHC goal by a Lion defender for an own goal to narrow the lead to 2-1.
The visitors got a two-goal advantage again when Felipe Ferraro connected on a blast from 20 yards out to pad the margin to 3-1.
MHC looked like it would go up 4-1 when the Bulldogs were called for a foul in the box later in the half. But Asheville goalkeeper Lassi Herskainen stopped Stephen Bivens on the PK to keep Asheville in the match.
The Bulldogs closed to 3-2 when Jake Hagedorn scored off an assist from Bryan Bartels late in the second half.
Mars Hill out-shot Asheville 19-13 on the evening.
UNC Asheville opens the 2011 season next Saturday (Aug. 27) when the Bulldogs host Mercer at 2 p.m.
