UNC Asheville hosted the first round of the Lamar Hunt U.S Open Cup 0n March 18. The match was between Asheville City Soccer Club and Greenville Triumph Soccer Club.
The U.S. Open Cup is a knockout competition in men’s soccer in the United States. It is the county’s oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The pool for this tournament consists of clubs in the professional league, which are Major League Soccer, USL Championship, USL League One, National Independent Soccer Association and other amateur teams.
Asheville City showed up for this game, with hundreds of fans all over the Greenwood Soccer Field stands. Kids from youth clubs in the area slid down the hill behind one of the goals while the fan club threw blue powder into the sky and beat their drums all night. Greenville’s fans did not disappoint even though they weren’t at home for this big game. They were favored to win and the amount of fans that made the drive showed the support they have for their club.
Asheville City plays in the USL League Two, which is one division lower than the USL League One, where Greenville competes. Going into a game as the underdog can be a challenge, but also rewarding. You have nothing to lose and if you win, it’s considered an upset.
Asheville started off the scoring 13 minutes in with a goal from Evan Southern to put them ahead. Six minutes later, Greenville answered with a free kick goal from Devin Boyce. Level at the half, the fans were locked in for the second 45 minutes. The screaming and chanting from the fans heightened as the second half was underway.
The match became physical and intense as the minutes ticked away on the scoreboard. Then, in the 82nd minute, Ashton Billow finished off a cross right in front of the goal which put Asheville ahead with eight minutes left. Regulation time was almost over as the officials announced there would be nine extra minutes of stoppage time. It was looking like the game would end in a 2-1 Asheville win, until Ben Fall stole the ball from a centerback and scored in the final play of the game.
The Asheville City underdogs won 3-1 and advanced to the next round of the U.S. Open Cup. The Asheville fans stormed the corner with the players as they ran to celebrate at the final whistle.
Greenwood was home to the professional game for one night. It was transformed into an underdog-winning story for 90 minutes and will host the next round for Asheville City on March 31.
