The Men of Asheville City rode an early Simon Carlson brace and a late goal onslaught to batter new USL2 side Apotheos FC in the season opener at Greenwood Field.

Things got started in the 5th minute when Simon Carlson forced a turnover from an Apotheos defender. He played a nice 1-2 with Joao Silva and received it back in the center of the goalbox before beating the keeper with a clinical finish to put the Blues up 1-0 early on.

A mere four minutes later Carlson would earn his brace off of another blunder from the Apotheos defense. Issah Haruna picked off a pass and played it off to Silva on the edge of the box in the right half-space. Silva squared it to Carlson who squeezed the ball through the Apotheos backline despite some pushback and lofted his finish over the keeper to double the ACSC lead.

In the 38th minute, the Blues came close to a third and Haruna capitalized off of a failed defensive pass back to the keeper and was dragged down in the box for an Asheville City penalty. Carlson stepped up to take the kick but blew it over the par as the score remained 2-0.

The Blues would extend the lead further right before half, as Tony Kim laid the ball off for Michael Rempel who darted into the middle and placed his finish past the Apotheos keeper to put the Blues up 3-0 heading into the break.

ACSC would not waste much time re-opening their account in the second half, as Haruna hopped on a ball towards the edge of the Apotheos box and curled it into the bottom left corner to put Asheville up 4-0.

3 minutes later the Blues would find their fifth, as a shot popped off of the crossbar and right onto the head of Agustin Resch who hammered it home for his first as a Blue. 

6 minutes after that, Kim darted down the left flank with the ball and with a defender on his back finished from a tough angle to put the Blues up 6-0.

In the 76th minute the Blues would make it 7-0. Pietro Fontana broke through on goal for a one-on-one and flicked it past the keeper as Asheville continued their dominant display.

Not long after in the 80th minute, Eduoard Nys played Daniel Samways in on goal in the middle of the box and he found the bottom right corner to extend the Blues lead to 8-0.

A minute after, Apotheos looked like they had their first and the ball was squared across on the 6 to the attacker all alone. The attacker put an underhit ball towards the net but Jonny Mennell dove backwards and pinned the ball down on the goalline to keep the Blues’ cleansheet intact. 

3 minutes later, a darting Nys hopped on a loose ball and tapped it home past the goalkeeper to put the Blues up 9-0.

Things were not over just yet however, as in the 89th minute Daniel Samways put in his second goal of the night to put the Asheville lead to double-digits, 10-0. This broke the Blues all-time single game team goals record, surpassing their previous record of 9 which came in a win on the last day of the regular season in 2023 against North Alabama SC to clinch the club’s first ever South Central Division title. That goal would prove to be the last one, as the Blues sent home a rowdy crowd giving their performance a perfect 10.

Dylan Kropp was awarded the Noble Cider Player of the Match award for his efforts in the match.

The Men hit the road to take on East Atlanta FC on Sunday, June 1st before returning home to Greenwood Field on Wednesday, June 4th against Southern Soccer Academy. The Women return home to Greenwood Field on Wednesday, May 28th for their third game of their four–game homestand as One Knoxville comes to town seeking revenge for the Blues’ win in Knoxville during their USL W League opener earlier on this season. You can buy your tickets here.