University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Wednesday, November 6
Asheville, NC
6:00 PM
UNC Asheville
4-12-1, 3-5-0
2
vs
1
Presbyterian
5-12-1, 3-4-1
1
2
3
4
F
Presbyterian
1
0
0
0
1
UNC Asheville
1
0
0
1
2
Photo by: Adrian Etheridge
Miles Peay’s Golden Goal Lifts Bulldogs to Victory in Season Finale
11.06.2019 | Men's Soccer
ASHEVILLE – In its regular season finale, UNC Asheville's men's soccer team sure provided drama at Greenwood Field, as sophomore midfielder Miles Peay delivered a golden goal with just 3:27 left in the second overtime period to give the home team a 2-1 victory against Presbyterian, Wednesday night.
The final sequence of action started with Peay reclaiming the ball and running toward goal. Tyson Hichman played a ball to Frank Morales, who delivered it back to Peay, and the left-footed Peay drilled it home with his right foot and sent his teammates onto the pitch in celebration.
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, though, Radford held the tiebreaker for the final spot in the Big South Conference Tournament. The Highlanders were able to come back from a 2-1 deficit against Longwood to force overtime in their Wednesday matchup, and then netted the game winner, leaving UNC Asheville at seventh in the final standings.
The Bulldogs (4-12-1, 3-5 Big South) began the scoring in the first half as freshman Andrew Rossetti had a beautiful run down the right side, deftly sneaking between two defenders and supplying a perfect pass across to Izaiah Vignali, who put home his third goal of the season and second in as many matches.
The Blue Hose (5-12-1, 3-4-1 Big South) would equalize in the 31st minute, as Sergio Pinto collected the ball off a deflection outside the box and sent a low liner into the bottom left corner of the net.
The Bulldogs had a couple of attempts blocked a couple minutes later, but their best chance to reclaim the lead in the first half came a minute later as a shot from Hichman had to be saved over the crossbar by Presbyterian's keeper, which helped keep the match level at the half.
After a save on a breakaway in the 13th minute, Bulldog keeper Nate Holladay recorded a second in the 57th minute to help keep the match tied at 1-1. Presbyterian did have a pair of chances in the second half that glanced off the left post, but were unable to capitalize.
Holladay finished the match with four saves.
With less than three minutes remaining in regulation, Luiz Felipe Dantas had an opportunity to put the Bulldogs ahead, but his header went agonizingly wide left, and the two teams would go to overtime.
In the first period, Kaleem Shabout got his head on a cross into the box, but his effort was steered directly into the hands of the keeper. Not long after, the Bulldogs got consecutive attempts as a Morales' strike was blocked and Kyle Adams secured the rebound, but his shot attempt went high.
In the second overtime period, Holladay didn't get credit for a save, but he aggressively came off his line to smother a pass just before the Blue Hose attacker could get his foot to it, keeping the match level and allowing the Bulldogs the opportunity to win.
MENNELL'S MUSINGS
"This is the team we thought we had. It's been fitful. Injuries have not been kind to us this year, but I think every college soccer team goes through that, but we've been particularly snake bit with that. But the team has competed. They found the way to win this game, and I thought they did an excellent job with it. I think they'll be a little disappointed when we go back and look at the film to concede a goal on a set piece, especially after we got the first phase of the set piece right. But we had two great goals. The interplay on the last goal between Frank and Miles was fantastic. I'm really proud of the effort. I've been proud of our team the whole year in terms of the way we've competed and the way we've learned lessons." – Head Coach Mathes Mennell
The final sequence of action started with Peay reclaiming the ball and running toward goal. Tyson Hichman played a ball to Frank Morales, who delivered it back to Peay, and the left-footed Peay drilled it home with his right foot and sent his teammates onto the pitch in celebration.
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, though, Radford held the tiebreaker for the final spot in the Big South Conference Tournament. The Highlanders were able to come back from a 2-1 deficit against Longwood to force overtime in their Wednesday matchup, and then netted the game winner, leaving UNC Asheville at seventh in the final standings.
The Bulldogs (4-12-1, 3-5 Big South) began the scoring in the first half as freshman Andrew Rossetti had a beautiful run down the right side, deftly sneaking between two defenders and supplying a perfect pass across to Izaiah Vignali, who put home his third goal of the season and second in as many matches.
The Blue Hose (5-12-1, 3-4-1 Big South) would equalize in the 31st minute, as Sergio Pinto collected the ball off a deflection outside the box and sent a low liner into the bottom left corner of the net.
The Bulldogs had a couple of attempts blocked a couple minutes later, but their best chance to reclaim the lead in the first half came a minute later as a shot from Hichman had to be saved over the crossbar by Presbyterian's keeper, which helped keep the match level at the half.
After a save on a breakaway in the 13th minute, Bulldog keeper Nate Holladay recorded a second in the 57th minute to help keep the match tied at 1-1. Presbyterian did have a pair of chances in the second half that glanced off the left post, but were unable to capitalize.
Holladay finished the match with four saves.
With less than three minutes remaining in regulation, Luiz Felipe Dantas had an opportunity to put the Bulldogs ahead, but his header went agonizingly wide left, and the two teams would go to overtime.
In the first period, Kaleem Shabout got his head on a cross into the box, but his effort was steered directly into the hands of the keeper. Not long after, the Bulldogs got consecutive attempts as a Morales' strike was blocked and Kyle Adams secured the rebound, but his shot attempt went high.
In the second overtime period, Holladay didn't get credit for a save, but he aggressively came off his line to smother a pass just before the Blue Hose attacker could get his foot to it, keeping the match level and allowing the Bulldogs the opportunity to win.
MENNELL'S MUSINGS
"This is the team we thought we had. It's been fitful. Injuries have not been kind to us this year, but I think every college soccer team goes through that, but we've been particularly snake bit with that. But the team has competed. They found the way to win this game, and I thought they did an excellent job with it. I think they'll be a little disappointed when we go back and look at the film to concede a goal on a set piece, especially after we got the first phase of the set piece right. But we had two great goals. The interplay on the last goal between Frank and Miles was fantastic. I'm really proud of the effort. I've been proud of our team the whole year in terms of the way we've competed and the way we've learned lessons." – Head Coach Mathes Mennell
Team Stats
PC
AVL
Goals
1
2
Shots
21
18
Shots on Goal
5
9
Saves
7
4
Corners
8
6
Fouls
5
12
Scoring Plays
Izaiah Vignali (3)
Assisted By: Andrew Rossetti
GOAL by AVL Vignali, Izaiah Assist by Rossetti, Andrew .
16:18
Sergio Pinto (5)
GOAL by PC Pinto, Sergio.
30:41
Miles Peay (1)
Assisted By: Tyson Hichman , Frank Morales
GOAL by AVL Peay, Miles Assist by Hichman, Tyson and Morales, Frank.
106:31
Game Leaders
Players
Shots
3
SOG
2
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
2
SOG
2
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
1
SOG
1
Goals
0
Assists
1
Shots
1
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
1
Players Mentioned
D
/ Men's Soccer
F
/ Men's SoccerF
/ Men's Soccer
GK
/ Men's Soccer
MF
/ Men's Soccer
W/F
/ Men's Soccer
MF/F
/ Men's Soccer
D
/ Men's Soccer
MF
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