Men Score 1st Round Win at Home over Weston FC to set up Date with The Villages SC in 2nd Round

Photo courtesy: Eakin Howard

The Men of Asheville used a big 2nd half to supplement their lead and score a big 4-1 win over Weston FC in the first round of the USL 2 Playoffs at Greenwood Field on July 21st.

The action got started in the 10th minute, when Asheville was awarded a corner. After some chaos in the box that led to Franc Gamiz’ shot being blocked, the ricochet fell to Simon Carlson who turned and shot it home to give Asheville an early 1-0 lead.

Simon Carlson goal, 10th minute vs. Weston FC, 07-21-23

5 minutes later, a loose ball ricocheted out to Quenzi Huerman outside the box who struck it on the volley but it was deflected out wide for a corner.

In the 28th minute Asheville would threaten again when Alex Andersson won a ball on the right flank and took it to the touchline. He fired a low-driven cross towards Carlson but Weston’s keeper was able to make a diving stop to prevent a close-range shot.

3 minutes later, the Blues were awarded a freekick in a dangerous position and Alex Horveno stepped up to take it. Horveno lasered a ball that seemed destined to dip under the crossbar but the Weston FC goalie was able to leap up and punch it over the bar to keep Asheville’s lead at 1.

In the 38th minute the Blues would grab a second. Max Miller hopped on a loose ball on the edge of the right side of the box and teed up Scott Vatne who shot an absolute cannon with his weak foot into the upper left corner to extend Asheville’s lead to 2-0.

Scott Vatne goal, 38th minute vs Weston FC, 07-21-23

“Before the game, Luca asked if I had a left foot and I said ‘Yeah, I just haven’t had the chance to prove it yet’. And today I got a chance and it went top bins. It was an amazing feeling,” said Vatne.

Weston FC would pull one back before the break however, as in the 45th minute they were given a throw-in even with the edge of the box on the right side. The ball was thrown into the box and flicked on to Connor Cates in the center of the box who was able to make enough contact with the ball through a spinning volley attempt to guide it into the upper right corner and halve the deficit to 2-1.

In the 51st minute, Andersson chased down a ball in on goal and seemed prime for a 1-on-1 opportunity against the keeper but a last-ditch effort by a Weston defender was able to knock the ball loose and out for a corner.

Three minutes later the Blues threatened again when Lucas Gonzalez danced around a defender on the left wing and powered a ball across the 6 from the touchline that was deflected towards the far post by a Weston defender but it rolled just wide.

6 minutes after that, Quenzi Huerman would scoot by a defender just inside the edge of the box on the right side and send a low shot towards the right side of goal but it hit the post and bounced out to the flank.

In the 76th minute Asheville would come oh so close to scoring again. A freekick from a tight angle on the left flank found the head of Kieran Richards about 8 yards out for the near post who flicked it on towards the back post in the direction of an oncoming Makel Rasheed but their was a bit too much pace on the flick and it sailed just wide.

3 minutes later however, Asheville would get their lead back up to 2. After a cornerkick was headed out wide, Juan Ballas would hop onto it in the right corner. He pulled back a ball to Matthias Lavenant on the edge of the boc who sent a perfectly-weighted throughball towards the touchline for Gonzalez who squared it to Richards on the edge of the 6 on the right side. Richards smashed it first time on frame and although the shot nicked a defender on the way through it went in to put Asheville up 3-1.

Kieran Richards goal, 79th minutes vs. Weston FC, 07-21-23

In the 84th minute, the Blues would tack on another one. Richards was taken down chasing a ball on the left side of the box by the Weston FC keeper and the Blues were awarded a penalty kick. Carlson stepped up to take the kick and roofed it towards the left side of the net to give the Blues a commanding 4-1 lead that would end up being the final scoreline.

Simon Carlson goal, 84th minute vs. Weston FC, 07-21-23

“I’m just so excited for the boys, for the club, for everyone. When you get to this time of year all of the little details-the recovery, the training sessions, the periodizations, the support staff, the ownership, all of the medical team-everybody has put in so much effort to get to this point so when you win that first game, it really shows you that your hard work is playing off. So I’m just really happy for the club and for all the players and I thought we were fantastic for the majority of the game tonight,” said Head Coach Scott Wells.

Due to his efforts tonight, Scott Vatne was awarded the Highland Brewing Wishing Star of the Match.