It gives me no pleasure to post the next statement. In fact, it's downright embarrassing, but it's the truth.
On a sad and embarrassing note, I post this only because it's so indicative of the status of Mountaineer Men's Soccer. Had it come to pass that ASU and UNC-A were both members of the Big South; Asheville would be ahead of ASU in the standings. It would look like this...App State would be dead last at 0-3 against Big South opposition. That's terrible. It could be 0-4 after tonite's match.Big South Conference Standings
Team W L
1 Radford 2 1
3 Coastal Carolina 1 0
4 Longwood 1 0
5 Winthrop 1 0
6 Presbyterian 0 1
7 Campbell 0 1
8 Liberty 0 1
9. Gardner-Webb 0 1
9 UNC Asheville 0 2
10. App State 0 3
On paper, App State should win this match going away. We should have better athletes and more of them. In reality, however, Asheville has a new head soccer coach--Mathes Mennell (formerly of Bristol , Tennessee) but more importantly and until recently, the highly successful associate head coach at Loyola Marymount of the West Coast Conference. Five of Mennel's teams have made the NCAA D-I College Cup Tourney in recent years. Mennell was given a lot of the credit by his head coach. Mennell did most of the recruiting at LMU--and he always assembled a blue-ribbon group of recruits. One wonders what UNC-A had to pay to lure him away from Southern California.
Former Mountaineer forward Zack Joens of Asheville (NC) Asheville High is the leading scorer this season for the Bulldogs. He's started 5 of Asheville's seven matches; has taken 11 shots, 8 of which were on goal; with four finding the back of the net. He's a "spirited" player--having also collected three yellow cards and 1 red card in this young season.
Joens started 11 matches for the Apps in '13 as a true freshman--taking 11 shots and scoring 1 goal. Following his freshmen season, he transferred to Asheville.
It would be bad karma for Joens to return to Appalachian and lead his current team to an upset win over his old team. Surely that won't happen. No way. Never.
Oh, but I forgot. Mennell with be the brains behind Asheville's offense and defense. He'll be the Bulldog' motivator and chief tactician. That's scary. The Apps had better be prepared for one heck of a fight. West Coast soccer comes to Ted Mac tonight. Hope the Apps are up to the challenge; 'cause they're probably going to get one. Expect a very physical affair--with lots of emotion. Both teams need a win. The Apps are desperate for a win. Flat out desperate. Coach Matt Nelson's job is very much in jeopardy.
