Women’s Soccer announces 2022 schedule

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – UNC Asheville Women's Soccer Coach Andy McNab announced the 2022 schedule on Friday afternoon.

The 2022 slate features eight home games and 10 road contests. All home games will be played at Greenwood Field, which will host four of the team's eight crucial Big South matchups.

The Bulldogs open the season with a short drive down the mountain to Wofford on August 18 before hosting VMI on August 21. A trip to The Citadel is then followed by home matches against South Carolina State and Western Carolina.

Asheville will have a three-game road swing in the early part of September (Elon, Davidson, ETSU) before closing out the non-conference slate with Mount St. Mary's at home.

The Bulldogs host Winthrop and Gardner-Webb to open up Big South play before visiting Charleston Southern and High Point. After welcoming Radford on October 8, Asheville will play three of its last four on the road, with its last home match coming against Campbell before closing out the regular season at Presbyterian.

A Look at Last Year
First-year head coach Andy McNab made an immediate impact last season, as the team won its most total games (6-11-1) in four years. McNab and his program, assisted by Bulldog alum Bella Iorio, really hit their stride in conference play, winning five league games (5-5-0) for just the third time in school history. The five wins were not only the most since 2005, but were the second-most all-time, trailing only the 2004 and 2005 squads which won six games apiece in the Big South. Additionally, the .500 winning percentage was the eighth-highest (of 29 seasons) in program history in Big South play.

All-Conference Honors
While Asheville will lose two of its four all-conference honorees in Gillian Oyos (Second Team) and Courtney O'Malley (All-Academic), they return Kaiya Boyd (All-Big South Honorable Mention) and Taylor Gardner (All-Freshman).

Boyd is coming off a sophomore season in which she led the Bulldogs in assists (4), while scoring four goals in the Fall of 2021. Boyd trailed only Gardner when it came to goals for Asheville, as the rookie from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, scored six times last season, tying for eighth among Big South players.

What's New?
Each season brings new faces, as the 2022 women's soccer team will feature 12 newcomers. Of the newcomers, there will be 10 freshmen and two transfers. While Asheville will miss its five graduates from the 2021 season (Courtney O'Malley, Alice Walker, Grace Sloan, Lilly Bell, Abby Jacobs), the Bulldogs return 16 letterwinners overall.