Bulldogs win the Hyatt Place Select Invitational Tournament!

It was a huge weekend for the UNC Asheville men’s soccer program, as the Bulldogs claimed their first tournament title in more than 20 years. Asheville (3-4-1) defeated Lipscomb on Friday and Belmont on Sunday to win the Hyatt Place Select Invitational in Nashville.

The Bulldogs opened the tournament with a major challenge in Lipscomb. The host school knocked off Asheville to win the tournament one year ago, and was the favorite leading into this season’s event. Indeed, the Bisons did an outstanding job of controlling possession and attacking the goal, outshooting Asheville 36-10 in the match. Yet it was the Bulldogs who struck first when, in the 19th minute, sophomore Connor Holzinger was awarded a penalty kick and drove it home for his second goal of the season. Asheville clung to the one goal advantage until the 65th minute, when insurance came in the form of a strike from sophomore Bryan Bartels, assisted by freshman Zachary Odum. The Bisons finally broke through the wall in front of the Asheville net in the 73rd minute, as Garret Pettis managed to slip a shot past goalkeeper Lassi Hurskainen. Hurskainen was the star of the match, making an incredible 15 saves to enable the Bulldogs to defeat a Lipscomb side that held significant advantages in most statistical categories.

Asheville hit the pitch next on Sunday afternoon, to take on a Belmont squad that defeated Alabama A&M on the opening night of the tournament. Again, the Bulldogs struck first. This time it was sophomore Jake Hagedorn who, in the 27th minute, collected the loose ball following a corner kick and beat the Belmont keeper for his first career goal. Asheville maintained the 1-0 lead for most of the match, as Hurskainen again put on a goalkeeping clinic. In the 81st minute, however, the Bruins found an answer when midfielder Cullen Hall deflected a corner kick into the net and forced the match into overtime. The first overtime period came and went without the deciding goal, despite an intense attack from Belmont. Finally, after over 104 minutes of soccer, Jake Sides scored the game-winner. Belmont cleared an Asheville corner kick, but Holzinger drove it back in to Sides, who finished the play off for his first goal of the season. Again, Hurskainen deserves a great deal of the credit for the Bulldogs’ performance. The Asheville keeper recorded 10 saves in the match as the Bulldogs again defeated an opponent by whom they were outshot (this time 23-15). Hurskainen, Holzinger, Hagedorn, and Sides were all named to the all-tournament.

The Bulldogs still find themselves near the bottom of the Big South table, but the tournament victory should give them a great deal of confidence as conference play draws near. Asheville is idle until September 27, when they travel to Lexington to face #22 Kentucky.