University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Men's Soccer at Radford on Saturday
09.30.2011 | Men's Soccer
The Bulldogs (1-5-2, 0-1-0 BSC) will face a stern test when they play the Highlanders (5-3-0, 1-0-0 BSC) on Saturday. RU has won seven straight matches at home dating back to last season and the Highlanders opened up BSC play with an impressive 2-1 victory over Campbell on Wednesday.
Asheville played on the road on Tuesday and finished with a 1-1 tie with Appalachian State. The Apps were ranked seventh in the South region on Tuesday and had won four straight matches.
"We'll take a point at Appalachian State," commented second-year coach Matt Kern. "Appalachian has been playing very good soccer this season and beaten some high-quality opponents. You always want to win but sometimes a tie works as well as a good result."
The Bulldogs play a Radford team that has won four of its last five contests.
"Radford has a very good team. They are extremely fast and big up top," stated Kern. "We're going to need a similar effort like we had on Tuesday and maybe even more on Saturday at Radford."
Senior midfielder Jake Hagedorn is having a great year for the Bulldogs and tops Asheville in scoring with four goals and nine points. Senior goalkeeper Lassi Hurskainen has been brilliant once again in 2011. Lassi is second in the Big South and eighth nationally in save per match with a 6.38 per game average. He is 11th nationally in total saves with 51.
Asheville is in the middle of a four-game road swing. They'll finish at national power UNC Chapel Hill Tuesday night. The Bulldogs next home game is Saturday, Oct. 8 when they'll face High Point at Greenwood Field starting at 2 p.m.
