ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Asheville City SC’s season came to an end Saturday night in the USL W League national semifinal, falling to North Carolina Courage U23 at Greenwood Field.
In front of a home crowd and amid a high-stakes playoff atmosphere, Asheville City battled throughout the match but couldn’t overcome the strong Courage side.
The Women in Blue wasted no time giving the fans something to cheer for. Asheville started off on the front foot, with high pressure from the front three to force a poor back pass out of bounds from Taylor Chism to give ACSC their first corner of the match in the third minute. The Blues then earned a free kick from the left side of the attacking third after a foul on Yuliia Khrystiuk in the sixth minute.
The rampant pressure from Asheville did not stop, as a sharp link-up between Lucie Bertrand and Gry Boe Thrysoe teed up Emma Sheehan at the top of the box, whose shot just flew over the bar in the 14th minute. Asheville followed that up with back-to-back corners, dominating the attacking third for the opening 20 minutes.
Thrysoe was instrumental in midfield, winning multiple balls and disrupting Courage build-up play as Asheville pinned the visitors in their own half through 20 minutes. However, the match was flipped on its head in the 23rd minute when Khrystiuk was controversially shown a straight red card for a foul near midfield on Hannah Jibril, forcing Asheville to play a man down for the remainder of the game.
From that moment, NC Courage took control of the game and tried to capitalize on their man advantage, generating multiple chances of their own, including a shot from distance from Mia Minestrella that went just over the bar in the 28th minute.
Asheville responded with grit and resilience and eventually found the breakthrough. A moment of brilliance from Sheehan saw Asheville take a 1-0 lead in the 37th minute. The chance came after a long ball from Sam Sharrocks was headed down by the Courage defense right to the foot of Sheehan at the top of the box. From there, Sheehan took one touch to set herself up before releasing what can only be described as a world class screamer into the top right corner that went bar down and in. The goal sent the home crowd into a frenzy and gave the Blues a much needed momentum boost going into half-time.
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Unsurprisingly, the Courage came out of halftime aggressive, but Asheville met the aggression with an admirable defensive stand. A curling shot from the Courage’s Mackenzie Geigle was caught comfortably by Gabrielle Rourke in the 49th minute, but the pressure escalated quickly. In the 51st minute, Thrysoe picked up a yellow card for a foul on the left wing, leading to a dangerous Courage header that clanged off the crossbar but Rourke reacted quickly to recover the rebound.
The onslaught continued, with the Courage peppering ACSC’s goal from all angles. However, Rourke was up to the challenge. A strike from Grace Ivey forced a full-stretch diving save from Rourke in the 60th minute, and just moments later, she denied another effort at the near post. Rourke tipped a powerful volley from Mia Minstrella over the bar in the 63rd minute, and then came up big again in the 64th, diving to her left to stop a header from Kayleigh Herr and preserve the lead.
Despite Rourke’s inspiring performance, the pressure was eventually too much. A questionable Asheville City SC handball just outside their penalty area gave the Courage a dangerous free kick at the top of the penalty box. Lauren Montgomery played the ball short to Minestrella who took a touch inside and smashed a shot off the right post and into the top corner; Tying the game at 1–1 in the 69th minute.
Asheville tried to respond with high pressing, nearly forcing a mistake in the 73rd minute when Autumn Weeks pressed the Courage keeper Mary Katherine Daly, who cleared it off Weeks and out for a goal kick.
The decisive moment came in the 82nd, when Ivey of North Carolina picked up the ball near the left end line. After cutting inside to beat her defender, she slotted a low shot past Rourke at the near post to give the Courage a 2–1 lead.
The Blues battled to the final whistle, earning corners in the 86th and 88th minutes and pushing numbers forward in search of an equalizer, but the Courage defense held firm, and as the final whistle blew, Asheville City’s remarkable season came to an end.
After the match, Head Coach Maxi Viera spoke on the unfortunate result and the feelings of the staff: “I think we were living a dream every day. But after this moment, from now, the only conclusion I have is feeling a little bit sad for the players, you know? I am very proud because they left everything, and they fought till the end which I was sure that they were going to do anyway.”
The Asheville City women ended the season 13-1-1 for their best record in club history. They also lifted the South Central Division title and won the Southern Conference title for the first time ever.