University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Photo by: Adrian Etheridge
Lots of Positives for UNC Asheville Men’s Soccer in First Exhibition
08.11.2018 | Men's Soccer
Box Score
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – UNC Asheville men's soccer wants to win every time it hits the pitch, but this time of year there are more important things to worry about, which is why head coach Mathes Mennell is for the most part pleased after the first exhibition of the year for the Bulldogs.
"The lessons learned and the growth as a team have to be paramount over the result," Mennell said after UNC Asheville's 3-0 exhibition loss to Northern Kentucky at NKU Soccer Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 11. "Ultimately, it's about the lessons learned."
Northern Kentucky scored all of its goals on set pieces in the match with Alex Willis first scoring in the 16th-minute before Connor Probert scored off a Willis cross in the 43rd-minute to give the Norse a 2-0 advantage at intermission.
Willis would finish the match with two goals and an assist after he converted a penalty kick in the 51st-minute that proved to be the final goal of the match.
"Northern Kentucky did a very good job on set pieces," Mennell said. "All three of their goals came from us making individual errors and them capitalizing on them. Certainly, that's a little bit frustrating, but we played everybody on the roster today and they got to play on their turf, which is great for our preparation for (regular-season opener) Wright State. It was also a very humid and warm environment, which is also great for us and we didn't pick up any injuries."
Northern Kentucky finished with a 16-10 shot advantage over the Bulldogs in the match, while UNC Asheville owned a slight 4-3 advantage in corner kick opportunities.
BULLDOG BITES
Quotable
"Overall, I'm pleased. We're about where I thought we would be. I am still super-excited about the group and our potential, but the wonderful thing about an exhibition like this is that we can put things on tape and now we know exactly what we need to work on and what we do well. I'm looking forward to getting back to Asheville, having a nice day off on Sunday and getting back to work on Monday." – UNC Asheville men's soccer head coach Mathes Mennell
#ThePursuit Man of the Match
UNC Asheville junior midfielder Austin Howard was named #ThePursuit Man of the Match after the conclusion of the exhibition by the UNC Asheville coaching staff. Howard played 48 strong minutes off the bench for the Bulldogs in the game.
Up Next
UNC Asheville will play the second of its three exhibitions by visiting two-time defending Southern Conference Tournament champion Mercer (Tuesday, Aug. 14 – 5 p.m.). UNC Asheville will then open up its home games at Greenwood Field at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 18, by playing host to Georgia Southern of the Sun Belt for its final exhibition match at 6 p.m.
"With Mercer, you'll probably see us kind of mold it more towards what our first regular-season 11 will look like and then with Georgia Southern in our last exhibition we will use that as a dress rehearsal," Mennell noted.
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – UNC Asheville men's soccer wants to win every time it hits the pitch, but this time of year there are more important things to worry about, which is why head coach Mathes Mennell is for the most part pleased after the first exhibition of the year for the Bulldogs.
"The lessons learned and the growth as a team have to be paramount over the result," Mennell said after UNC Asheville's 3-0 exhibition loss to Northern Kentucky at NKU Soccer Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 11. "Ultimately, it's about the lessons learned."
Northern Kentucky scored all of its goals on set pieces in the match with Alex Willis first scoring in the 16th-minute before Connor Probert scored off a Willis cross in the 43rd-minute to give the Norse a 2-0 advantage at intermission.
Willis would finish the match with two goals and an assist after he converted a penalty kick in the 51st-minute that proved to be the final goal of the match.
"Northern Kentucky did a very good job on set pieces," Mennell said. "All three of their goals came from us making individual errors and them capitalizing on them. Certainly, that's a little bit frustrating, but we played everybody on the roster today and they got to play on their turf, which is great for our preparation for (regular-season opener) Wright State. It was also a very humid and warm environment, which is also great for us and we didn't pick up any injuries."
Northern Kentucky finished with a 16-10 shot advantage over the Bulldogs in the match, while UNC Asheville owned a slight 4-3 advantage in corner kick opportunities.
BULLDOG BITES
Quotable
"Overall, I'm pleased. We're about where I thought we would be. I am still super-excited about the group and our potential, but the wonderful thing about an exhibition like this is that we can put things on tape and now we know exactly what we need to work on and what we do well. I'm looking forward to getting back to Asheville, having a nice day off on Sunday and getting back to work on Monday." – UNC Asheville men's soccer head coach Mathes Mennell
#ThePursuit Man of the Match
UNC Asheville junior midfielder Austin Howard was named #ThePursuit Man of the Match after the conclusion of the exhibition by the UNC Asheville coaching staff. Howard played 48 strong minutes off the bench for the Bulldogs in the game.
Up Next
UNC Asheville will play the second of its three exhibitions by visiting two-time defending Southern Conference Tournament champion Mercer (Tuesday, Aug. 14 – 5 p.m.). UNC Asheville will then open up its home games at Greenwood Field at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 18, by playing host to Georgia Southern of the Sun Belt for its final exhibition match at 6 p.m.
"With Mercer, you'll probably see us kind of mold it more towards what our first regular-season 11 will look like and then with Georgia Southern in our last exhibition we will use that as a dress rehearsal," Mennell noted.
Players Mentioned
MF
/ Men's SoccerMonday, November 13
Monday, November 06
Monday, November 06
Monday, October 30