Dogs Day Out Episode 1: Men’s Soccer’s Behan, Thompson compete for Asheville City

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – As summer gets into full swing, we thought the best way to kick off our "Dogs Day Out" series was to catch up with a pair of men's soccer players (Conor Behan, Dylan Thompson), who are competing for Asheville City Soccer Club this summer.

A rising junior and team leader, Behan, who hails from Dublin, Ireland, decided to stay in Asheville this summer to best prepare for the fall season. Alongside Behan is transfer Dylan Thompson who joined UNC Asheville after one season at San Diego. Like Behan, Thompson, who hails from the United Kingdom, wanted to stay stateside to prepare for the fall.

"I didn't play last summer, so I really wanted to keep going this summer and build up a good standard of fitness to prepare for the fall at UNC Asheville," Behan said.

"For me, getting ready for the fall and being fit, it's a lot more beneficial playing soccer here than going home and trying to keep fit myself," said Thompson. And here it's game-realistic as well…getting games in my legs will only benefit me."

On the similarities and differences in playing for Asheville City
"From playing at home, to college soccer to here, each one is different," said Behan. "In college, the games at the end stop, but in this league, you play the extra minutes. In a way it's similar to college because you're playing so many games so quickly, but Asheville City has big squads and we are very talented…overall football is football and I enjoy it."

In England, Thompson competed for the Academy of Everton and sees a lot of similarities in the professional environment of Asheville City.

"Asheville City replicates the environment back home, as well as UNC Asheville," Thompson said. "You want to be as professional as possible because you never know what's next. If you conduct yourself in the right way, it's only going to help you in life or soccer."

How Asheville City is helping to elevate play
"It's a really good standard here," Behan said." The lads that we're playing with here are playing for top colleges so just that itself will help bring my game forward. I wanted to come into a professional environment and this will help bring my game up."

Staying in the Moment
"Here at the moment, we are just focused on the next game. We want to stay unbeaten," Behan said. "We're the only unbeaten team…we want to be the ones that other teams look at to try and take points off of."

"Being the only unbeaten team, being around all these players is only going to help me improve. I'm loving it, it's been really beneficial," Thompson said of the experience with Asheville City.

Asheville City continues to be strong, with a current record of 6-0-2. Behan had his best output in a June 4 win over Peachtree City, playing 52 minutes and dishing out an assist. Thompson, who also appeared in that game, has one start registered on the year.

To follow Behan, Thompson and Asheville City, visit aschevillecitysc.com.

#ALLinAVL