The Women in Blue used an all-around effort at Greenwood Field to win their third straight match, taking down One Knoxville SC by a score of 2-0 to retain the Golden Boot Trophy.
The first real danger of the match resulted in the opener; after 20 minutes of both sides feeling things out, Caitlin Conroy put the Blues ahead. Hedda Ornberg fed Conroy a nice pass as she entered the goalbox on the right side. Conroy settled the ball, sized up the defender, and got off a quick shot in the box that beat Marleigh Frazier to put Asheville ahead 1-0.
Three minutes later, Ornberg almost scored herself when a Phoebe Hollin corner deflected up into the path of the Swede on the left side of the box. Ornberg settled the ball and fired a shot on net, but Frazier was equal to the attempt.
In the 34th minute, Hollin sent a laser of a shot on net that Frazier caught. 5 minutes later, Hollin sent a beautiful cross toward the back post intended for Ornberg, but Frazier narrowly beat the Asheville forward to the ball, ending any danger as the Blues went into halftime up 1-0.
The Blues doubled their lead in the 63rd minute, courtesy of Naroa Domenech. Lucie Bertrand hopped on a loose ball in midfield, evaded several Knoxville defenders, and dumped the ball off to Ornberg. Ornberg progressed the play to Kelly Gordon just outside the goal box in the middle of the pitch, who made a cheeky pass that put Domenech in behind the Knoxville backline. Domenech rifled a shot that whizzed past Frazier to put Asheville up 2-0.
Two minutes later, Knoxville almost halved the Blue lead, but an important intervention by Rachel Logue inside of the six-yard box kept Knoxville off the board.
Kelly Gordon nearly put herself on the scoresheet in the 74th minute when Lucy Sloan sent a ball from the right flank to Gordon at the back post. Gordon tried chipping her volley past the keeper, but Frazier made the catch to snuff out the danger.
Asheville sat back and absorbed the Knoxville pressure for the rest of the match. Knoxville came close to finding the back of the net and even hit the woodwork in stoppage time, but they were unable to score as the Blues were triumphant, 2-0.
Sarah Jacobs was named the Wicked Pie Player of the Match for her efforts on the night.
The Blues return home on Saturday, June 13th when they take on Swarm FC as part of a doubleheader with the Men’s team. The Women kick off at 3:30 PM, while the Men host Appalachian FC with kickoff slated for 7:00 PM. You can buy your tickets here.
