University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Photo by: Adrian Etheridge
Bulldogs Fall to Wright State in Exhibition at Greenwood Field
08.17.2017 | Men's Soccer
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – UNC Asheville men's soccer head coach Mathes Mennell knows it's only one exhibition, and he also knows his squad can already learn a ton from its 5-0 exhibition loss to Wright State at Greenwood Field on Thursday, Aug. 17.
"The great things about exhibitions are there a lot of lessons to be learned," Mennell said. "If you get it right and you learn from them it can be very beneficial for the rest of the year."
The Bulldogs had some quality chances in the contest, particularly in the second half, but it was Wright State that would take the most advantage of its 16 shots in the match with the Raiders owning a 4-0 advantage at the halftime break.
UNC Asheville controlled a great deal of the play in the second half as noted, and finished just behind the Raiders in overall shots in the game at 16-11.
"I thought it was a tale of two halves," Mennell said of the exhibition. "I thought the way we competed in the second half was great, and obviously as the group is getting to know each other it's going to come down to 'are you willing to put in the work, cover the ground?' College soccer early in the season sometimes it's not as fluid as you want it to be, but I thought the second half, our effort was great. I thought our effort in the first half quite frankly could have been better, and I don't know if it's a question of fatigue setting in or what it is, but I don't think any of us put our best foot forward."
BULLDOG BITES
First Impressions
Despite the loss, Mennell saw some things that impressed him against Wright State.
"There were some bright spots," Mennell said. "I thought Frank Morales was great today. I thought we played a lot of players, which is good. We stayed injury-free, which is nice. At the end of the day, full credit to Wright State. They took advantage of their opportunities in the first half with four goals, so we'll get back to it."
Up Next
The Bulldogs will next close out their tune up matches by welcoming reigning Southern Conference regular-season champion and 2016 NCAA Tournament participant East Tennessee State to Greenwood Field at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 19.
Mennell and his staff are excited to see how the team responds to the quick turnaround and another top-notch opponent coming to Greenwood Field.
"All-in-all it's an exhibition game and the valuable things are the lessons," Mennell said. "We'll get back to work tomorrow. We've got a great opponent in ETSU coming in and, again, we've got some kinks to iron out obviously."
To follow the action in the UNC Asheville exhibition against ETSU, please click HERE.
"The great things about exhibitions are there a lot of lessons to be learned," Mennell said. "If you get it right and you learn from them it can be very beneficial for the rest of the year."
The Bulldogs had some quality chances in the contest, particularly in the second half, but it was Wright State that would take the most advantage of its 16 shots in the match with the Raiders owning a 4-0 advantage at the halftime break.
UNC Asheville controlled a great deal of the play in the second half as noted, and finished just behind the Raiders in overall shots in the game at 16-11.
"I thought it was a tale of two halves," Mennell said of the exhibition. "I thought the way we competed in the second half was great, and obviously as the group is getting to know each other it's going to come down to 'are you willing to put in the work, cover the ground?' College soccer early in the season sometimes it's not as fluid as you want it to be, but I thought the second half, our effort was great. I thought our effort in the first half quite frankly could have been better, and I don't know if it's a question of fatigue setting in or what it is, but I don't think any of us put our best foot forward."
BULLDOG BITES
First Impressions
Despite the loss, Mennell saw some things that impressed him against Wright State.
"There were some bright spots," Mennell said. "I thought Frank Morales was great today. I thought we played a lot of players, which is good. We stayed injury-free, which is nice. At the end of the day, full credit to Wright State. They took advantage of their opportunities in the first half with four goals, so we'll get back to it."
Up Next
The Bulldogs will next close out their tune up matches by welcoming reigning Southern Conference regular-season champion and 2016 NCAA Tournament participant East Tennessee State to Greenwood Field at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 19.
Mennell and his staff are excited to see how the team responds to the quick turnaround and another top-notch opponent coming to Greenwood Field.
"All-in-all it's an exhibition game and the valuable things are the lessons," Mennell said. "We'll get back to work tomorrow. We've got a great opponent in ETSU coming in and, again, we've got some kinks to iron out obviously."
To follow the action in the UNC Asheville exhibition against ETSU, please click HERE.
Players Mentioned
MF
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