ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — The Asheville City men’s team hosted Dothan United at Greenwood Field in a matchup between the two top teams in the South Central Division. The Blues escaped with a narrow 1-0 victory against Dothan in an extremely physical match as the two teams picked up where they left off from their matches last season.
The Blues got the first chance of the game 15 seconds in when Edouard Nys received a ball and took it to the endline on the right flank. Nys squared it to Simon Carlson on the edge of the 6-yard box. He fired it toward the net, but the attempt was blocked by a Dothan United defender.
Asheville found the opener in the 17th minute when Carlson’s press caused a turnover in the Dothan box. The ball fell back to him and he was taken down for a penalty kick. Carlson stepped up to the spot and drilled a blistering shot in the bottom left corner past the outstretched arms of the keeper to give the Blues a 1-0 lead.
The rest of the half was generally uneventful with neither team able to generate any real threatening opportunities as Asheville took its lead into the break.
In the 51st minute, Michael Rempel received a ball and darted down the left flank and cut in diagonally on goal before trying to place a ball around the Dothan keeper toward the far post with his left foot, but his attempt curled just wide.
The next 15 or so minutes were spent mostly in the middle third with tough challenges and defensive interventions aplenty before Dothan was awarded a corner in the 69th minute. The ball bounced around the box with a handful of Dothan shots heading towards the net, but the Blues defense and Mennell were able to get in front of all of the opportunities and keep the ball out of their net.
Some 7 minutes later, a rebound fell to Nys in the upper left corner of the Dothan box. He unleashed a half-volley attempt toward the upper-right corner of the far post but just missed the target.
In the final minute of stoppage time, chaos inside the Asheville box ensued, and a shot was lofted high at goal. But Mennell was able to rise up a snag it to close out the victory for the Blues.
For his efforts in goal, Mennell was awarded The Nobel Cider player of the match.
The win gives Asheville a 3-point cushion over Dothan at the top of the South Central Division standings with a game still in hand as the Blues improve to a perfect 7-0-0 on the season.
The men will be back at Greenwood Field on Tuesday, June 24, as they face off against East Atlanta FC. Get your tickets here.