The Men of Asheville scored a 2-0 win at Greenwood Field over Tennessee SC on July 8th to stay atop of the South Central Division standings.

The first good chance of the game came to Asheville in the 19th minute. Quenzi Huerman released Alex Andersson on goal with a through ball but TSC’s keeper John Gorman came out and slid to collect the ball to end the danger.

In the 20th minute, TSC would send a dipping free kick on goal from a dangerous position but Leroy Zeller was able to get up and punch it over the bar,

Andersson helped cause trouble again in the 35th minute, when he received a feed from Scott Vatne on the edge of the box. He would try to dance his way around TSC defenders before releasing a powerful shot from near the penalty spot but it was blocked out by a defender.

Max Miller received a long diagonal in the 38th minute to start another chance for Asheville. He cut inside before serving up a bouncing ball to Vatne on the edge of the box, who struck it first time on the half-volley but his chance went over the bar.

The Blues would find the breakthrough in the 43rd minute. Vatne would link up with Andersson again, giving him a pass towards the right corner of the box. Andersson would cut inside and dance around four TSC defenders before finishing off his chance with a cheeky chip over Gorman to put Asheville ahead 1-0.

“The thing I love about Alex is that he’s hungry to learn, he’s always asking questions, wanting to get better tactically. But he could be here, he could be in Colorado, he could be back home, he was born with that individual talent that you seen for his goal, he can change the game at a click of a finger. Really happy that he was able to give us that and going into halftime that made it a much different conversation than it was going to be,” said Head Coach Scott Wells.

In the 58th minute, Asheville was still searching for their second. A long diagonal ball over the top found Huerman on the right flank, who drove towards the keeper for a one-on-one opportunity but his far post shot was barely saved to keep the Asheville lead still at 1.

10 minutes later, Alex Horveno’s corner found Franc Gamiz at the back post who launched a rocket of a header towards the near side that forced a diving stop from the TSC keeper. Vatne hopped on the rebound outside of the box and launched a long-range dipping shot towards the net but it went just over the bar.

In the 73rd minute, the Blues kept up the intense pressure on the TSC backline. Asheville forced 3 saves out of the TSC keeper and Kieran Richards hit the crossbar in the span of only a minute. 

Only a couple of minutes later, Quenzi Huerman lined up for a freekick in a dangerous position for the Blues. He laced a shot towards the left post but again Gorman was able to get over and make the diving stop.

In the 76th minute, Gamiz would come close to another one in a similar play. This time, Gamiz placed his header towards the far post which got past Gorman but then was cleared off of the line by a TSC defender.

It was deja vu for Gamiz in the 89th minute. His header once again beat Gorman and once again was cleared off of the line by a defender to keep the scoreline only at 1-0 Asheville.

In stoppage time of the second half, Tennessee would go down the field and threaten to score one but two brilliant stops by Makel Rasheed, one of which was a block on a near post shot, helped to keep TSC out of the net and preserve Asheville’s lead.

The Blues would go down the field on the counter and finally find the second in the final few moments of the match. Izaiah Vignali started the break and at around midfield laid it off for Simon Carlson. Carlson then drove the length of the pitch, cut inside when he reached the box, and created separation from a TSC defender before burying his shot past Gorman and into the back of the net to give Asheville a massive 2-0 victory.

“I talk to my players all the time about being brave and having freedom to play and I think Simon since he got here has shown how brave he is. He wants to get on the field at any moment, during any kind of situation, and he wants the ball at his feet and he’s very good at making things happen,” said Wells.

“I was just glad to come on, and be able to make a difference for the team, and help this team to win,” said Carlson.

“We weren’t great in the first half, we started a little slow. We made some tactical adjustments at halftime and we did really well. I was really really happy with the second half performance,” said Wells.

For his efforts on the night, Simon Carlson was awarded with the Highland Brewing Wishing Star of the Match.

Next up, the Men wrap up their regular season at home on July 15th as they host North Alabama SC with a chance to wrap up the South Central Division title.

The Blues currently lead the South Carolina United FC Bantams for the top of the division. Asheville is currently up by 3 points in the standings while holding a 2-goal advantage in the goal differential department but South Carolina has a game in hand. This means that the South Central Division title will be decided on Saturday, July 15th.