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Women’s team loses in hard fought match against division champions

By Aubrie Holcomb , 06/29/22, 11:30AM HST

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The Asheville City women’s team battled for 90 minutes in a tough loss against Greenville Liberty SC. The game included a red card for the Blues and a yellow card for head coach Jimena Rojas. 

Within seconds of the game, defender Roisin McGovern was given a straight red in a controversial call for denial of a goal scoring opportunity. The Blues then had to play with ten for the remainder of the game. 

“This whole season has been a lesson in dealing with adversity. We’ve had so many unique challenges thrown our way and yesterday was not the exception. It was beyond unfortunate to go down a player so early in the game but at that point it’s about how we react to the situation that we were given,” head coach Jimena Rojas said. 

Right after, the Liberty capitalized on the shortage of players by scoring in the 5th minute. 

The first substitution of the night came in the 8th minute with Jesse Smith entering the match for Lindie Clark. 

During the first half, Greenville scored two more goals bringing the score to 3-0. During the 39th minute Greenville’s Sarah Jacobs entered the book for a handball.

Although the Liberty was able to capitalize on the lack of ACSC players, goalkeeper Emory Wegener made multiple crucial saves and brought high energy to the field throughout the night. 

At the beginning of the second half, Laura Greb entered the game for Sachiko Gamo. 

Dani Murguia was able to get a goal back in the 55th minute as she beat the defender in a one-on-one matchup.

“I can’t say enough about the resilience from the group & their commitment to battle through the challenges,'' Rojas said. “We came out really strong for the second half & played some really smart soccer. That effort can be exhausting but the girls left it all on the field.” 

During the 71st minute Sarah Groce entered the match for Gabi Santora. Groce started the 2022 season as an intern for the club, and now makes her debut on the women’s team. 

At the 78th minute head coach Rojas entered the book as the game began to get chippy on both sides. 

After this game, the Liberty secured their spot atop the division and now qualifies for USL W league playoffs. 

“There were a few highlights as we saw Sarah Groce debut and she had a great game. Jesse Smith, one of our academy prodigies, had to come in early and dealt really well with some of the best college players in the country,” Rojas said. 

The women’s team returns for a home game on July 9 for their final match of the season. The team will face the NC Fusion at 5:00 p.m. hoping to end their season with a win. 

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