USL W LEAGUE: Asheville City advances by knocking out TLH Reckoning with three goals in five-minute span
- Dan Stickradt
- Jul 5
- 2 min read
NATIONAL SOCCER NEWS: www.nationalsoccernetwork.com
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – A flood of shots in the first half resulted in three goals within a five-minute period for Asheville City.
The host Blues went on to post a 3-1 victory over visiting TLH Reckoning in the Southern Conference semifinals Friday at UNC-Asheville Greenwood Field.
The win came over the only wild card team in the 16-team USL W League national tournament, as TLH Reckoning finished second in the Southeast Division and made the tournament for the first time.
All three of the Asheville City goals were scored between the 34th minute and 39th minute of the contest and it helped the host build a 3-0 lead by the half.
Lucie Betrand set up teammate Gry Boe Thrysoe for the first goal in the 34th minute for a 1-0 lead and an advantage the Blues would never relinquish in the match.
Three minutes later in the 37th minute, Lu flores chopped a cross into the box and Emma Sheehan volleyed it home from the right side of the box for what proved to be the game-winning goal and a 2-0 lead.
The Blues were not done, as Betrand laced a penalty kick into the low right corner in the 39th minute after a teammate was tripped up inside the box.
Asheville City, which had 12 shots on goal in the win, nearly scored a fourth goal before the half when Flores found some space inside the box in the 41st minute but her shot was just wide of frame.
As it turned out, the three goals was all the offense the Blues would need.
TLH Reckoning did pull one back in the 65th minute when Zamaiyah Hill got high above traffic after a Lauran Bastian serve into the box and redirected the ball on a powerful header to trim the deficit down to 3-1.
Neither side scored again in the final 25 minutes of action and Asheville City survived to live another day.
Asheville City, the South Central Division champions in the regular season, improved to 12-0-1 on the year and remained unbeaten behind a 33-10 scoring edge.
TLH Reckoning finished the year 8-3-0 as a first-time postseason qualifier in the USL W League. The Reckoning finished with 47 goals in the regular season – third in the entire 93-team USL W League – and departs the postseason with a 48-14 scoring edge and was the tournament’s sole wild card selection. That was pre-determined by USL W League officials that the Southern Conference would have the tournament’s one divisional runner-up team in the national tournament along with the 15 division champions.
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