University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Saturday, October 5
Rock Hill, SC
5:00 PM
UNC Asheville
3-7-1, 2-1-0
3
at
0
Winthrop
2-8-0, 0-2-0
1
2
F
UNC Asheville
1
2
3
Winthrop
0
0
0
Photo by: Adrian Etheridge
Bulldogs Record Second Straight Road Shutout in Victory Against Winthrop
10.05.2019 | Men's Soccer
ROCK HILL, S.C. – For the second straight match, the Bulldogs scored three goals, this time en route to a 3-0 victory against Winthrop, Saturday, at Eagle Field.
After scoring three goals at home against High Point, Wednesday night, the Bulldogs have scored three goals in consecutive matches for the first time since scoring three apiece against Eastern Illinois and Brevard in 2010.
It is also the second consecutive road shutout victory in Big South Conference play after taking down USC Upstate, 1-0, last Saturday. It is the first time since 2014 the Bulldogs have recorded consecutive road shutouts overall and in conference play.
Additionally, it is the second straight trip to Winthrop where the Bulldogs have emerged victorious, as they won, 1-0, in their last trip to Rock Hill in 2017.
The Bulldogs (3-7-1, 2-1 Big South) did a nice job of maintaining possession and keeping the ball in the attacking third in the first half, but did struggle at times getting quality looks. Izaiah Vignali got control of a loose ball in the box in the 10th minute, but had to spin around to get his shot off and it was easily saved. He had a free kick from just outside the 18-yard box in the 18th minute, but his low attempt was blocked.
The team stayed persistent, though, and Nate Evans recorded the breakthrough with less than three minutes remaining in the first half, firing a shot from 35 yards out over the head of Winthrop's (2-8, 0-2 Big South) goalkeeper to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead at the half.
In the 58th minute, the Bulldogs drew a corner kick, which senior Kyle Adams took with aplomb. He put the ball past the face of the goalkeeper and it was knocked in by an Eagles defender who was under pressure from freshman Giacomo "Jack" Boccuzzi at the far post.
Senior Frank Morales put the icing on the cake with his first goal of the season, collecting a pass from Evans on the left side, dribbling just inside the 18-yard box and firing a shot over the keeper to make it 3-0 Bulldogs.
Freshman goalkeeper Jarrett Payne recorded the second shutout of his young career, but it took more than an hour of match time before he recorded his first save. He had a tremendous effort in the 71st minute, pushing a high shot over the crossbar. He had a diving stop to his right a minute later to help preserve the clean sheet, overall recording four saves on the night.
The Bulldogs will have a week off until returning to action in Big South play when they host Radford in a 3:30 p.m. contest, Saturday, October 12, at Greenwood Field.
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MENNELL'S MUSINGS
"Obviously, we're very pleased with the result tonight. I thought our guys put together a pretty complete performance. Full credit to Winthrop: they asked a couple questions of us early on, and I thought we settled ourselves down. Nate Evans scored a timely goal to send us into halftime up 1-0. Then, we were kind of able to do what we wanted to do and run through the gears. By that I mean we were able to implement some of the things we've been working on, not only this week, but this season. I was very pleased to get a victory in the Big South. Any time you can win is great, but it's also great to keep a clean sheet and move to 2-1 in the conference. We're really excited about this, we'll enjoy it on our way back to Asheville and then we're on to Radford." – Head Coach Mathes Mennell
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After scoring three goals at home against High Point, Wednesday night, the Bulldogs have scored three goals in consecutive matches for the first time since scoring three apiece against Eastern Illinois and Brevard in 2010.
It is also the second consecutive road shutout victory in Big South Conference play after taking down USC Upstate, 1-0, last Saturday. It is the first time since 2014 the Bulldogs have recorded consecutive road shutouts overall and in conference play.
Additionally, it is the second straight trip to Winthrop where the Bulldogs have emerged victorious, as they won, 1-0, in their last trip to Rock Hill in 2017.
The Bulldogs (3-7-1, 2-1 Big South) did a nice job of maintaining possession and keeping the ball in the attacking third in the first half, but did struggle at times getting quality looks. Izaiah Vignali got control of a loose ball in the box in the 10th minute, but had to spin around to get his shot off and it was easily saved. He had a free kick from just outside the 18-yard box in the 18th minute, but his low attempt was blocked.
The team stayed persistent, though, and Nate Evans recorded the breakthrough with less than three minutes remaining in the first half, firing a shot from 35 yards out over the head of Winthrop's (2-8, 0-2 Big South) goalkeeper to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead at the half.
In the 58th minute, the Bulldogs drew a corner kick, which senior Kyle Adams took with aplomb. He put the ball past the face of the goalkeeper and it was knocked in by an Eagles defender who was under pressure from freshman Giacomo "Jack" Boccuzzi at the far post.
Senior Frank Morales put the icing on the cake with his first goal of the season, collecting a pass from Evans on the left side, dribbling just inside the 18-yard box and firing a shot over the keeper to make it 3-0 Bulldogs.
Freshman goalkeeper Jarrett Payne recorded the second shutout of his young career, but it took more than an hour of match time before he recorded his first save. He had a tremendous effort in the 71st minute, pushing a high shot over the crossbar. He had a diving stop to his right a minute later to help preserve the clean sheet, overall recording four saves on the night.
The Bulldogs will have a week off until returning to action in Big South play when they host Radford in a 3:30 p.m. contest, Saturday, October 12, at Greenwood Field.
Â
MENNELL'S MUSINGS
"Obviously, we're very pleased with the result tonight. I thought our guys put together a pretty complete performance. Full credit to Winthrop: they asked a couple questions of us early on, and I thought we settled ourselves down. Nate Evans scored a timely goal to send us into halftime up 1-0. Then, we were kind of able to do what we wanted to do and run through the gears. By that I mean we were able to implement some of the things we've been working on, not only this week, but this season. I was very pleased to get a victory in the Big South. Any time you can win is great, but it's also great to keep a clean sheet and move to 2-1 in the conference. We're really excited about this, we'll enjoy it on our way back to Asheville and then we're on to Radford." – Head Coach Mathes Mennell
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Team Stats
UNCA
WIN
Goals
3
0
Shots
7
9
Shots on Goal
3
4
Saves
4
1
Corners
4
7
Fouls
12
15
Scoring Plays
Nate Evans (2)
35 yard shot over keepers head
42:07
0
GOAL by UNCA TEAM.
58:01
Frank Morales (1)
Assisted By: Nate Evans
GOAL by UNCA Morales, Frank Assist by Evans, Nate.
78:23
Game Leaders
Players
Shots
1
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
1
Shots
1
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
1
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
0
Players Mentioned
D
/ Men's Soccer
MF
/ Men's Soccer
F/M
/ Men's Soccer
MF
/ Men's Soccer
GK
/ Men's Soccer
MF
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