University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
USC Upstate
Naber's Golden Goal Sends Bulldogs into Conference Play with Win
09.19.2015 | Women's Soccer
THE RUNDOWN
Score: Asheville 2 – USC Upstate 1 (OT)
Teams: Asheville (6-2, 0-0 BSC)
USC Upstate (1-7-1, 0-0 Asun)
Location: Greenwood Field, Asheville, N.C.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The UNC Asheville women's soccer team used Courtney Naber's golden goal in the 100th minute on a penalty kick to grab a 2-1 overtime victory over USC Upstate on Saturday night.
THE TURNING POINT
With under a minute remaining in overtime, freshman Justine James hustled towards a free ball near the Upstate goal. James' shot attempt was blocked by a Spartan defender, but the ball bounced up and hit the defender in the hand, causing the penalty kick ruling. Naber drilled home the kick in the lower left corner for the win.
NOTABLES
-Saturday night marked the second consecutive match that the Bulldogs went into overtime and won. Prior to last week, Asheville had not played a single overtime game since September 2013.
-The last Asheville loss in extra time came back in August 2012 (double overtime 2-1 loss vs. East Tennessee State). The last Bulldog loss in a single overtime came way back in October 2011 (4-3 loss vs. Gardner-Webb).
-The Bulldogs are now 4-0-1 the last two seasons in extra time, with three matches going to double overtime.
-The overtime winner was Naber's second goal of the season.
-Asheville finished with 24 shots, but 13 came in the first half. Both teams applied pressure in overtime, getting off four shots each.
QUOTABLES
“Tonight was a good battle for us. I thought our passing was very good in the first half. We were able to break pressure and get into the final third consistently. This was a great win to give us some momentum heading into conference play.” - Head Coach Michelle Demko
UP NEXT
-The Bulldogs open Big South Conference play with a pair of road games next week. Asheville plays at Winthrop on Wednesday and at Campbell next Saturday before returning home to take on Presbyterian on September 30.
