ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Asheville City Soccer Club, Asheville’s own semi-pro footballers, have advanced to their first ever national semifinals round of the USL W League.
After winning the Southern Conference Championship title against Texan team Lonestar SC, the women of Asheville City will challenge Eastern Conference champs NC Courage in a playoffs home game at 7 p.m., Saturday, July 12 at Greenwood Soccer Field, 200 Field Drive.
The match is the furthest the Blues have made it in a USL W bracket before.
“I think every girl here deserves everything they’ve done,” said Autumn Weeks, a 23-year-old, all positions player from Illinois. “I feel like it’s a team of underdogs. Like, everyone’s ‘aw, they can’t do it,’ but they’ve done it. They’ve done it through the playoffs and won the championship and now they’re in the semi for it.”
“We!” corrected teammate Sarah Gorham, a 29-year-old center midfielder from Kentucky.
“We! Yes, sorry, we,” Weeks said. “We are in the final four and it’s just unreal.”
Both players joined Asheville City this summer for their first season on the team, but Gorham was quick with the reminder that Weeks is just as integral a member of “the girls” as any of the other 20-odd players on the team. As the semifinal match approaches, you get the sense that the players care more about not letting down their teammates than winning the trophy.
“We played soccer our whole lives, so, like, a game is a game,” Weeks said. “I think I have nerves with the chemistry piece, with being with all the girls, because I just want to try to learn how they play and mesh as well as possible. I think that’s been a learning process through each game.”
This exciting moment for the Blues comes at a watershed point for women’s soccer. The Asheville City women’s team was formed in 2017 and the USL W League kicked off their championship bracket in 2022. In less than a decade of existence and in under five years of playing in the USL W, the Blues are already on a red-hot streak of upward momentum. The same goes for female football clubs all over the globe.
“Canada just made a brand-new league this year. There’s leagues popping up every single place, which is really, I think, a testament to the women’s movement,” Weeks said.
As the semifinal match approaches this weekend, Weeks and Gorham will each practice their pre-game routines.
“I’m kind of a solo person. I like to stick to myself before games,” Gorham admitted. “I really like to listen to music.”
The player has an unexpected hype anthem for getting ready for a match.
“Oh my god, I’m gonna be exposed. I listen to classical music. I love Bach,” Gorham laughed. “Suite No. 5 is my go-to. I put it on repeat for like 20 minutes. I’m a big visualizer before games, and with the cello, I don’t know, I could just see myself on the field so well when that music is playing.”
Weeks approaches every match, rain-or-shine, with a sunny pre-game attitude.
“I remember it’s just a game and whatever happens, it’s going to happen, and it’s going to put a smile on my face,” Weeks said. “Because when you smile at the game, it smiles back at you.”
Blues fans are invited to bring their smiles to Greenwood Field this weekend. Tickets can be purchased at www.ashevillecitysc.com/single-game-tickets.