Asheville hands SM first defeat of season

Coach Dolphus Brown said Nicholas McDonald (white jersey) played like a warrior in Smoky Mountain's 6-0 loss to Asheville last week.

Despite the first loss of the year, Coach Dolphus Brown was upbeat about his team's performance.

"It's probably the best game we've played overall," he said. "The first 20 minutes we played scared. There were stretches in the second half where we really held possession. We started to play with some confidence."

The Cougars got off 19 shots to four by SM. Will Peoples made six saves for the Mustangs. Asheville's Michael Young had one.

Eric Giesenschlug opened the scoring just 1:06 into the contest when he was left unmarked. "Will couldn't do anything about that," Brown said. "We just didn't mark."

Andrew Maitland made it 2-0 at the 12-minute mark when he scored off a direct kick.

The margin was 3-0 at halftime after Giesenschlug scored nine minutes before intermission.

"That was a great shot," Brown said. "Will made an outstanding save, but the kid stepped up and hit it again."

"We just stood there," Brown said. "They passed it near post, and the kid came in from the other side to kick it in."

The final two goals came at 66:45 with Few scoring on an assist from Logan Meadows and Josh Rudow's penalty kick at 78:00.

"We played like it was the state championship," Brown said of his team's effort. "They played with every ounce of fire they had in them."

The coach singled out Nicholas McDonald for his performance.

"I needed him to play like a warrior, and he did," Brown said. "He's leading by example.

He said Matt Taylor "played another super game" while Peoples was cited for "three or four very superb saves."

Brown said Chris Tennant was a coach on the field, and he said Munene Mwaniki came off the bench to play well at halfback.

The Mustang JVs fell to 0-2 with a 5-0 loss.

Back to Sports: 08/31/00.