University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Bulldog Women's Soccer Opens Season at Home Tonight
08.21.2015 | Women's Soccer
THE MATCHUP
Teams: Asheville (0-0, 0-0 Big South)
The Citadel (0-0, 0-0 SoCon)
Location: Greenwood Field, Asheville, N.C.
Time: 7:00 p.m.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The UNC Asheville women's soccer team opens the lid on its 2015 campaign when they host The Citadel on Friday night at Greenwood Field. Asheville enters the game with 14 newcomers on the team's 26-man roster. The Bulldogs enter tonight's opener following a 1-0 win over Wofford in their only exhibition game of the preseason.
The Citadel enters tonight's game on the heels of a 5-1 exhibition loss to Georgia Southern last weekend. Tonight's game marks the season opener for The Citadel as well.
Tonight marks just the second meeting all-time between the two schools, with Asheville winning the only other matchup 10-2 back in October 2001.
NOTABLES
-Asheville's 14 newcomers on the roster is tied for the fifth-most on any women's soccer roster in Division I to open the season. Cincinnati and UC Irvine also have 14 newcomers, while only UCF, VCU and UT-Martin (15) and UC-Santa Barbra (17) have more newcomers than the Bulldogs.
-The Bulldogs return several key members of last year's squad that finished 10-9-1 overall, including sophomore Caroline Houser, who led Asheville in total goals last season with six on her way to the Big South Conference's Freshman of the Year honor. Junior Paige Trent returns after notching five goals in 2014. Senior Kennedy Garrett also returns after finishing 2014 with three goals – all game-winners – as part of her nine-point season a year ago.
-Tonight's game marks the first of 10 home games this season at Greenwood Field for Asheville. The Bulldogs open the season with three straight home matches, and four home games in their first five overall contests, before hosting five Big South Conference matches on their home pitch later this season.
-Tonight's contest marks the first home game in UNC Asheville men's or women's program history to feature a 7 p.m. kickoff.
QUOTABLES
“Looking forward to our opening game against The Citadel, it's an exciting time to be on campus to kick off our 2015 season. Students are back this week, our game is the first athletic event of the academic year, we are playing our first-ever night game and this is a great way for our 13 freshmen to gain insight to the tradition and experience of playing at home. I expect the opening 15 minutes of the game to be full of energy for each team, as both sides will be anxious to play the first game of season. We are looking to have good attacking shape while remaining compact on the defensive side of things. It's important each line communicates and remain organized in the run of play. I am hoping our attacks are full of creativity and our defending, full of discipline. We have been hard at work since August 6th so the biggest piece as a coach will be watching the players in their element come later tonight.” - Head Coach Michelle Demko
UP NEXT
- Following tonight's game against The Citadel, UNC Asheville is back at home on Sunday when they welcome Eastern Kentucky to Greenwood Field for a 1 p.m. contest.
