University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Bulldogs Host Western Carolina in Thursday Night Action
08.27.2015 | Women's Soccer
THE MATCHUP
Teams: Asheville (2-0, 0-0 BSC)
Western Caolina (1-0-1, 0-0 SoCon)
Location: Greenwood Field, Asheville, N.C.
Time: 7:00 p.m.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The UNC Asheville women's soccer team welcomes regional rival Western Carolina to town Thursday night in their third consecutive home match to start 2015. The Bulldogs have early wins over The Citadel and Eastern Kentucky, while Western Carolina beat Eastern Kentucky before an overtime tie against Winthrop.
NOTABLES
-UNC Asheville has now started 2-0 the last three seasons – the last time the Bulldogs went 3-0 to open a season was the beginning of the 2005 campaign.
-Asheville is 2-7-3 all-time against Western Carolina. The last meeting was an exhibition in 2014 but they haven't played a regular season game since 2011 when the Catamounts defeated the Bulldogs 4-0 in Cullowhee.
-Asheville's last victory over WCU came Sept. 3, 2004 - a 3-0 win in Cullowhee.
-Through the first two games, the Bulldogs have out-shot their opponents 52-12. A total of 30 shots have been on goal.
-Junior Paige Trent was named the Big South Conference's Attacking Player of the Week after tallying two goals on eight shots last week. Her goal on Sunday against Eastern Kentucky proved to be the game-winner in the 2-1 victory.
-21 different Bulldogs logged playing time in the opening weekend for head coach Michelle Demko.
-Western Carolina and Asheville share a common opponent in Eastern Kentucky, as the Catamounts defeated EKU 3-0 last Friday before the Bulldogs' 2-1 win on Sunday.
QUOTABLES
“Going into tomorrow's match I am looking for our attacking tempo to sustain for two complete halves. We will need discipline and commitment initiating this up-tempo style for the duration of the match. We are very capable of this task and once we understand how to pin teams in for 90 minutes, we will be a very dangerous team to play against. Western will be a battle. They are a very blue-collar team, relentless in their pursuit of the ball. We are very similar in both these components so I think we will match up well. This will be a great test for us.” - Head Coach Michelle Demko
UP NEXT
-Following tonight's game against Western Carolina, the Bulldogs hit the road for the first time in 2015, traveling to Florence, S.C. to take on Francis Marion on Sunday afternoon.
