Asheville City’s women’s team played the Charlotte Independence on Saturday, June 18 in a road matchup. The match ended in a 1-1 draw with the equalizing goal coming from Kiley Dulaney. 

Although Asheville City dominated the field in the first half, Charlotte scored first in the 17th minute. 

Not too long after, Phoebe Hollin entered the book. Despite a gritty determination in the first half the Blues were unable to find answers to the Independence goal. 

At the beginning of the second half Riley Thompson, Kiley Dulaney, and Gabi Santora all had chances but were unable to capitalize on them. 

“We have good, technical players and we focus on playing simple, just keeping the ball on our feet. We are focusing on making quicker transitions so we can take advantage of the space from behind,” head coach Jimena Rojas said. 

In the 70th minute, Cami Johnstone entered for Santora and Jessi Smith entered for Hollin. 

Finally, in the 87th minute clutch player Kiley Dulaney scored the equalizer with an assist from Riley Thompson. Dulaney leads the team in goals this season with four. 

“Kiley is very talented, she is a team player and wants to play the best pass for her teammates,” Rojas said. 

With the 1-1 draw Asheville City is now 2-2-5 and is ranked third in the South Atlantic Division. 

“Being back at Memorial will be huge for us, we will have the support of the fans which brings that extra motivation,” Rojas said. 

Next up for the women’s team is a rematch against the Charlotte Independence on Tuesday, June 21 at Memorial Stadium. Kickoff will be at 5:00 p.m. 

Immediately following, the men’s team will play in a massive faceoff against One Knoxville SC at 7:30 p.m. 

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