The Asheville City Women’s team looked to be on pace to dropping points on the road but once again used late offensive heroics to earn a hard-fought victory against the Greenville Liberty.

Asheville created the first real danger of the match in the 4th minute when Sarah Gorham hopped on a loose ball in the right half-space and played Caitlin Conroy in behind the defense. Conroy took a couple dribbles and unleashed a shot towards the bottom corner of the far post but her attempt curled just wide.

In the 20th minute the Liberty worked for their first shot on frame when a cross-turned-shot threatened Asheville but Gaby Rourke made a clean save to dispel any further danger.

The rest of the half was quiet in terms of chances with the majority of the game being played at midfield as the two teams went into the break in a scoreless draw.

The second half continued that trend until the 60th minute when a brilliant run and through ball by Conroy gave the ball to Yuliia Khrystiuk on the endline on the left side. Khrystiuk used a nice turn to get space from a defender before firing a low-driven shot at the near post that the Greenville keeper was equal to.

11 minutes later, Khrystiuk was wreaking havoc on the Greenville backline once again. A soft backpass to the Liberty keeper triggered her to press. When the goalie tried passing it to a teammate, Khrystiuk got a foot on it but it was not enough to slow it down and Greenville was able to clear the danger.

Khrystiuk again came close to an opener in the 83rd minute when her nifty footwork gave her just enough space on the left side inside the box to unleash a shot towards the upper right corner but her attempt narrowly missed the frame.

Finally, in the 85th minute, the Blues hopped on top for good and Khrystiuk was once again involved in the attack. 

Phoebe Hollin won the ball off of a Greenville defender in the attacking third with a great challenge and passed it over to Juli Viera. Viera played it back and Hollin took it and darted towards the center of the pitch in the attacking third. A few more crisp passes by the Blues attack led the ball over to Khrystiuk on the endline on the right side of the six-yard box who turned and chipped it back parallel to Hollin. An off-balance Hollin warded off a defender and struck it first time on the half-volley, beating the Liberty keeper near post to lift the Blues to a 1-0 victory.

Phoebe Hollin was awarded the Noble Cider Player of the Match award for her efforts in the match which included the game-winning goal.

The Women in Blue head to Birmingham to take on the Legion on June 10th to wrap up the road trip before they return home on June 15th to face off against the Chattanooga Red Wolves at 4:00 PM. The Men of Asheville City return to Greenwood Field on June 7th when they host Montgomery United at 7:30PM. You can buy your tickets here.