University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Women's Soccer Falls in Quarterfinals, 2-0
11.02.2014 | Women's Soccer
Box Score
CONWAY, S.C. – The UNC Asheville women's soccer team wrapped up its 2014 campaign with a 2-0 defeat at second seeded Coastal Carolina in the quarterfinals of the Big South Championships on Sunday afternoon.
The Bulldogs conclude the season with a 10-9-1 overall record, the first 10 win season for the program since 2006. The Chanticleers improve to 11-7-2 on the year and advance to the semifinals of the Big South Championships.
“We started out a bit slow and I that really got us out of our element,” said head coach Michelle Demko. “We are accustomed to starting out strong early in matches. We were able to adjust at the half, however, you can't give away 45 minutes to a team like Coastal Carolina.”
“We had a successful season,” remarked Demko as she reflected on the season. “We made it back to the tournament this season and we are moving in the right direction. We had a first-team selection, a second-team selection, an honorable mention selection and the Freshman of the Year. We want to continue moving forward and continue raising the expectations for this program.”
The match marked the final game for four seniors and coach Demko congratulated them on their final season. “They are a big part of what we are building here, as my first recruiting class I am grateful for the things they have done to help this program, they were a great group.”
Coastal Carolina opened the scoring on a first half strike by Big South Attacking Player of the Year Kacey Kelley. Kelley received that ball around the penalty area on a low driven crossed and hit her shot low across Heather Muller's net for a 35th minute goal.
The Bulldogs looked to rally with an answer late in the half, but Amanda Dailor's shot from distance went wide of the Coastal Carolina net.
Asheville started the second half with a pair of opportunities to level. Paige Trent and Dailor each tested Coastal goalkeeper Becca Austin, but Austin was up able to come up with the save on both chances. Dailor's chance came on a free kick from 25 yards out which forced Austin to stretch to her right to keep the shot out of the net.
Shelby Evans scored the second goal for the Chanticleers in the 69th minute when she knocked in the pass from Kelley from inside the six-yard box.
Caroline Houser had what would be the last opportunity of the season for Asheville as she beat a defender to at the top of the box and unleashed a left-footed effort which went just wide of the net.
Muller ended her stellar career in net for the Bulldogs with eight saves on the day. Dailor, Houser and Trent each tallied a pair of shots on the afternoon for Asheville. Kacey Kelley led all players with nine shots for the match.
