The Men in Blue captured a dominant 3-1 over Southern Soccer Academy on the road on July 1st.

The action started in the 12th minute when Juan Ballas was taken down in the box for a penalty kick. Ballas stepped up to take the penalty and targeted it for the bottom left corner but the SSA keeper was able to make a miraculous save and keep it out of the net.

The Blues would find the breakthrough in the 31st minute however, when a foul was drawn outside of the box on the right side. Alex Horveno stepped up to take the freekick and sent a laser towards the upper left corner that was too powerful for the SSA goalie to keep out as it deflected off of his hand and went in for a 1-0 Asheville lead.

6 minutes later the Blues would get back on the board again. Matty Cornish set up Simon Carlson with a nice feed which Carlson would calmly place in the back of the net for a 2-0 Asheville advantage.

“Simon played here last year so it was really nice for him. He came on and made a really good impact against Bantams and really really happy that he could score two goals tonight and impact the game the way he did,” said Head Coach Scott Wells.

The Blues would strike quickly in the 2nd half, as in the 50th minute, Ballas would find Carlson with a beautiful ball. Carlson would put it away for his 2nd on the night, and his 3rd in the past two games, to put Asheville up 3-0.

In the 80th minute, SSA would pull one back through a Stephen Hurlock finish to cut the lead to 3-1 which would be the final.

“It was great. It was a four hour journey with the blistering heat, so for us to come away with the three points is fantastic. We played some great stuff so really really happy. Disappointing to concede in the 2nd half but it's our mistake for trying to build too much so we have to manage the game a little bit better but ultimately happy with the three points,” said Wells.

For his efforts in the match, Simon Carlson was awarded the Highland Brewing Wishing Star of the Match.

Up next for the Men, an away date with the Dalton Red Wolves on July 5th before returning home to Greenwood Field on July 8th to take on Tennessee SC.