The Men of Asheville made history on Sunday, advancing to the USL2 Quarterfinals for the first time in the club’s history. On another rainy night, which saw several delays, the Blues overcame adversity to mount an incredible 2-1 comeback win against Brave SC. 

Originally scheduled for a 6 p.m. kickoff, the match was pushed back to a later start time due to inclement weather. After just 40 minutes of action, play was paused again due to continuing thunderstorms and lightning. Finally, at around 9:15, the match restarted and continued uninterrupted for the remaining time. 

Amidst the rain, the action kicked off in the second minute with a promising opportunity for the Blues. A long throw-in from Sven Rempel went untouched in the box, bouncing onto the head of Sergio Ors Navarro, who’s rising header just missed the crossbar. 

In the 15th minute, Asheville was at the forefront of the action again, this time in transition following a well-timed slide tackle from Izaiah Vignali. Sebastian Tregarthen quickly collected the ball in midfield and unleashed a bending strike from distance, missing the top left corner by mere inches. 

Just a minute later, Vignali earned a free kick outside of the box after a poor challenge by João Ribeiro. Captain Simon Carlson calmly stepped up and curled a strike toward the far post, narrowly missing wide. 

The Blues dominated in possession for much of the first half, generating several quality opportunities through the wings. However,  Brave SC managed to turn the tables on Asheville with a surprising goal against the run of play. From outside of the penalty area, Breno Correia cheekily chipped a pass over Asheville’s backline to the unmarked Nico Diaz, who swiftly tapped the ball past Johnny Mennell to open the scoring. 

Following their goal, Brave SC began to assert themselves into the match, forcing several mistakes with their high press. Their backline was rock solid as well, executing some incredible slide tackles across the pitch. 

In the 40th minute, the match was delayed and would restart over an hour later. Despite the rain, the South Slope Blues were still in full force, defending their beloved team after every missed-call and dirty challenge. The remaining five minutes of the first half were uneventful, and play soon restarted after a short halftime. 

5 minutes into the second half, Dante Huckaby performed a great move on the left sideline and delivered a low cross into the box, which was cleared by Brave SC and then immediately recovered by Kasper Davidsson. The Swede proceeded to hit a bouncing shot just wide of goal, setting the tone for the last 45 minutes. 

In the 58th minute, Henrique Compagnoni Gallina was sent off for a reckless challenge on Tregarthen. The Brazilian center back went studs up into the back of Tregarthen’s knee, prompting the referee to immediately blow his whistle and issue a straight red card. At this moment, the tide began to turn and Asheville started to dominate in the attack. 

After creating a handful of chances to no avail, Navarro almost found the equalizer in the 70th minute. Huckaby sent another dangerous, low cross into the box, which was deflected off a defender and immediately gathered by Navarro, who ripped a powerful, low strike off the edge of the post and out. 

As the pressure continued to mount on Brave SC’s backline, the Blues finally broke through in the 72nd minute. Off a throw-in, Tregarthen struck a shot from distance, which deflected off a group of bodies and fell to Navarro in the middle of the box. The West Virginia attacker then quickly slotted a shot past the keeper from close range, leveling the score at 1-1 

5 minutes later, Asheville took the lead in astonishing fashion, sending the bench into a frenzy. Following an interception by Huckaby and a proceeding through ball, Niall Reid-Stephens darted downfield and into the box, shouldering off his defender, cutting inside, and then playing it across to the wide-open Tregarthen. The Uruguayan coolly tapped it past goalkeeper Andrew Muller to put the Blues up for the first time all night. 

The remainder of the match was intense to say the least, with both sides executing crunching tackles across the pitch and fans, interns, coaches, and players all getting caught up in the action. In the dying moments, Bradbury sent an excellent through ball past Asheville’s backline to Nico Diaz, who would find himself 1-on-1 with Mennell. In the moment of the match, Mennell put his body on the line and pulled off an incredible challenge to prevent the late equalizer. 

As the final whistle blew, the players sprinted onto the pitch to celebrate the biggest accomplishment in team history. Your Asheville City SC has advanced to the USL2 quarterfinals for the first time ever and will travel to Newport News to face Corpus Christi FC on Friday. 

“We’ve created history for the club tonight and again, every year has been better. In 22’, we got to the playoffs. In 23’, we won the league and in 24’, the idea was to go further than the sweet 16, and now we’re in the last 8 so I’m just so happy,” said Coach Scott Wells following the dramatic ending to the match. 

With a win on Friday, the Blues would advance to the USL2 semi-finals to face the winner of the Lionsbridge FC vs Seacoast United Phantoms matchup. The semi final will be held Sunday night at TowneBank Stadium in Virginia.