J^ovember 8,2001
The Blue Banner
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Sports
‘Dogs clinch top seed in Big South Tournament
Hollie Childers
Staff Reporter
The UNCA men’s soccer team
clinched the top seed in the Big
South Conference after defeating
Charleston Southern University
Nov. 3 and High Point University
Oct. 31.
The ‘Dogs record is now 5-1-0 in
BSC play.
“It feels good to be in first place,”
said junior forward Keith Painter.
“We have all worked very hard this
season, and everybody is very dedi
cated. We have a much better team
mentality this season than in previ
ous seasons.”
“As far as winning goes, it is a new
feeling, but it is very much de
served,” said junior midfielder
Spencer Hines. “The last couple of
years, we have had a good team.
We just haven’t been able to score.
But now, we have been able to find
away to score, so it’s good to be on
top.
UNCA was a preseason pick to
finish in last place in the BSC race.
“What we are playing for is the
right to call ourselves regular sea
son champions,” said Head Coach
Steve Cornish. “There are no easy
games in the Big South, and who
ever we play is going to be very
difficult.”
Against CSU, UNCA won their
third straight match, and seventh
win in the last nine games.
Sophomore midfielder Greg Gar
rison scored the only goal late in
I »the second half, giving the Bull-
M dogs a 1-0 victory.
“The Charleston Southern game
was different because now we are a
marked team, and everyone knows
that. We are the best team in the
conference, so now everyone takes
us seriously,” said Hines. “CSU
came out and played really physi
cal. Just because a team is physical,
we still should be able to beat them.”
The ‘Dogs dominated much of
the game, as they outshot CSU 23-
6.
CSU goalkeeper Rob Tilley made
12 saves.
“CSU was a very, very strange
game,” said Cornish. “We outshot
them 23-6. Their goalkeeper was
just exceptional, and you have to
give him a great deal of credit. It
was a bit frustrating at times be
cause we had some great opportu-
lil^
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4b, .
I
Junior Jeremy Shrader puts one in past the goalkeeper at a practice on Monday. The teams use their
practice time to run drills in order to gain skills necessary to defeat the opponent.
nities but just couldn’t finish.”
“Garrison scored our only goal
against CSU,” said Painter. “He has
really done well this year. He is the
reason we won the game.”
Although Garrison contributed
tremendously to the Dogs’ win, the
whole team contributed, according
to Cornish.
“The majority of times this year,
someone could contribute tremen
dously during a game, but not nec
essarily get on the score sheet,” said
Cornish. “In the past two games,
nobody has really stood out a great
deal. It was really a good team effort
all around.”
Junior goalkeeper Andrew Heath
had his third straight shutout at
CSU.
Heath faced six shots and made
three saves.
He now has 10 career shutouts,
which puts him in a tie for second
place on UNCA’s all-time career
list, according to the Athletics Web
site.
At home versus High Point, the
‘Dogs posted another shutout vic
tory, by a score of 4-0.
The Bulldogs had not beaten the
Panthers since they joined the BSC
three years ago, according to the
Web site.
UNCA led 1-0 at the half, and
scored early in the second half to
secure the win.
Sophomore forward Mike
Kachan scored the first goal of the
game off an assist from Garrison
and senior midfielder Colin
Barnes. Barnes scored the sec
ond goal, and freshman defender
Kyle Britton scored the third goal.
Freshman forward J.J. Dore
scored the last goal of the game off
a pass from freshman midfielder
Matt Jacobs.
“Recently, J.J. has been injured,
but he used his limited playing
time very effectively to score one
against High Point, and to come
close against CSU,” said Hines.
The High Point game was not
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“We are playing for
the right to call
ourselves regular
season champions”
Steve Cornish
-Head Coach
IAN BAILLIE/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
one of the best games played by the
‘Dogs this season, but the game
showed how good the team can be
under pressure, according to Hines.
“High Point was not one of our
better games,” said Hines. “When
we don’t play that well, and still
win 4-0, it shows just how much
potential we actually have this year, ”
said Hines.
High Point played physical against
the Bulldogs, and it was a rough
game, according to Painter.
“Everybody got beat up, but we
stuck it out,” said Painter. “Every^
body did their part to get an impor
tant win.”
The Panthers’ team has some
tough players, but their team com
munication has not yet matured
this year, according to Hines.
“High Point was a good team.
They have one player who plays for
the Trinidad & Tobago national
team,” said Hines. “It is really tough
marking up against him because he
is so quick. They have a lot of
dangerous players, but their team
doesn’t play as well as ours. That is
probably why we were able to beat
them.”
The Panthers were an uneven
match, according to Painter.
“The High Point defense was
pretty weak,” said Painter. “We have
a good offense, so when we match
up against a bad defense like that,
we are going to win the majority of
the time. Everything else about our
team is pretty solid too, so if you
combine (a) good offense, a good
midfield and defense against a me
diocre team with bad defense, then
we are probably going to win.”
The ‘Dogs are now looking for
ward to the BSC Tournament, and
possibly even the NCAA Tourna
ment, coming up in December.
“It is a different position going
into the Big South Tournament
being first because we are usually
one of the lower seeds,” said Hines.
“It is different, but we are confident
that we should be able to win it, and
hopefiilly go to the NCAA tourna
ment.”
IAN BAILLIE/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The women’s soccer team
practices heading the ball during
a drill on Monday.
UNCA
loses to
High Point
Ben Martin
Staff Reporter
The UNCA women’s soccer team
finished up their regular season with
a 4-0 loss against High Point Uni
versity Nov. 3.
“We were all pretty upset because
it was our last game of the season,
and we were hoping for momen
tum to carry us to the (Big South)
conference tournament this week,”
said junior midfielder Bridget Goss.
The Bulldogs finished the season
5-10-0 overall and 1-5-0 in the
conference.
High Point improved to 4-11-1
overall and 2-4-0 in the conference.
The teams will head to Charles
ton, SC Nov. 8 to compete in the
Big South Tournament.
“We’re confident we can do well
at the tournament,” said Goss.
“Hopefully our team can come to
gether.”
Sophomore forward Kelsey
Dawson and junior defender Ellen
Sims lead the Bulldogs with eight
goals and 17 points on the season.
The Bulldogs finish the season 5-10-0.
UNCA was shutout in their last
four games against Charleston
Southern University, Clemson
University and Birmingham South
ern College.
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