University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Building Blocks Continue to be Put in Place in Second Exhibition for UNC Asheville Men’s Soccer
08.14.2018 | Men's Soccer
Box Score
MACON, Ga. – UNC Asheville men's soccer once again continued to take steps in the right direction toward the 2018 regular season in their second of three exhibitions at Mercer on Tuesday, Aug. 14.
The match did not end in a victory with Mercer taking a 2-0 win over the Bulldogs at Bear Field, but UNC Asheville men's soccer head coach Mathes Mennell "thought we did a decent job overall in the exhibition. We gave up two goals and the second goal was just a really wonderful, quality finish by the Mercer player. It was a special individual effort, so you have to applaud him for that. We improved on the things that we needed to from (last) Saturday (exhibition against Northern Kentucky). We had a lot of growth in those areas, but at the same time, we still have a lot of growth areas that have been illustrated"
Mennell knows that every exhibition is a building block for the future.
"At the same time, it keeps getting better and closer to where we want it to be," Mennell said after the exhibition at Mercer. "Certainly, you want to win soccer matches, and it would be very, very easy for the players and staff to be negative that we didn't play the way we wanted, but at the same time it's an exhibition and you play exhibitions to get the kinks ironed out. That's why you do dress rehearsals and that's why you practice. We're on the right track, so I thought it was very positive.
"There were some good performances today. Guys stepped up and did some good things. At the same time, we were able to play 27 of the 29 guys on our roster today, meaning we were able to get game fitness and experience for the group. That's a real positive."
The first goal of the match for Mercer came in the seventh-minute when Leo Toledo, Jr. scored off an assist from Michael Ille. In the 51st-minute, Ille scored one of his own off an assist from Kalvin Lingard.
Overall, Mercer out-shot the Bulldogs, 20-8, in the match and held a slight 5-3 advantage in corner kick opportunities.
BULLDOG BITES
#ThePursuit Man of the Match
UNC Asheville senior defender Brandon Millington was named #ThePursuit Man of the Match by the coaching staff. Millington played 59 minutes for the Bulldogs in the exhibition.
Up Next - Asheville Appetizer
UNC Asheville men's soccer will 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. The exhibition match will serve as the Asheville Appetizer home-opening event for the Bulldogs. Fans are encouraged to come out and try some free samples from a handful of our local Asheville restaurants, such as Asheville Pizza & Brewing, Bad Happy, Twisted Laurel, Wild Wing Café, The Hop and much more.
"We've got a great opportunity for our final dress rehearsal on Saturday at home against Georgia Southern and to kind of be able to put ourselves out there in front of our fans is something I know our team is very much looking forward to." – UNC Asheville men's soccer head coach Mathes Mennell
MACON, Ga. – UNC Asheville men's soccer once again continued to take steps in the right direction toward the 2018 regular season in their second of three exhibitions at Mercer on Tuesday, Aug. 14.
The match did not end in a victory with Mercer taking a 2-0 win over the Bulldogs at Bear Field, but UNC Asheville men's soccer head coach Mathes Mennell "thought we did a decent job overall in the exhibition. We gave up two goals and the second goal was just a really wonderful, quality finish by the Mercer player. It was a special individual effort, so you have to applaud him for that. We improved on the things that we needed to from (last) Saturday (exhibition against Northern Kentucky). We had a lot of growth in those areas, but at the same time, we still have a lot of growth areas that have been illustrated"
Mennell knows that every exhibition is a building block for the future.
"At the same time, it keeps getting better and closer to where we want it to be," Mennell said after the exhibition at Mercer. "Certainly, you want to win soccer matches, and it would be very, very easy for the players and staff to be negative that we didn't play the way we wanted, but at the same time it's an exhibition and you play exhibitions to get the kinks ironed out. That's why you do dress rehearsals and that's why you practice. We're on the right track, so I thought it was very positive.
"There were some good performances today. Guys stepped up and did some good things. At the same time, we were able to play 27 of the 29 guys on our roster today, meaning we were able to get game fitness and experience for the group. That's a real positive."
The first goal of the match for Mercer came in the seventh-minute when Leo Toledo, Jr. scored off an assist from Michael Ille. In the 51st-minute, Ille scored one of his own off an assist from Kalvin Lingard.
Overall, Mercer out-shot the Bulldogs, 20-8, in the match and held a slight 5-3 advantage in corner kick opportunities.
BULLDOG BITES
#ThePursuit Man of the Match
UNC Asheville senior defender Brandon Millington was named #ThePursuit Man of the Match by the coaching staff. Millington played 59 minutes for the Bulldogs in the exhibition.
Up Next - Asheville Appetizer
UNC Asheville men's soccer will 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. The exhibition match will serve as the Asheville Appetizer home-opening event for the Bulldogs. Fans are encouraged to come out and try some free samples from a handful of our local Asheville restaurants, such as Asheville Pizza & Brewing, Bad Happy, Twisted Laurel, Wild Wing Café, The Hop and much more.
"We've got a great opportunity for our final dress rehearsal on Saturday at home against Georgia Southern and to kind of be able to put ourselves out there in front of our fans is something I know our team is very much looking forward to." – UNC Asheville men's soccer head coach Mathes Mennell
Players Mentioned
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