The Charlotte 49ers are off to another great start. No stranger to getting off on the right foot to start the soccer season, the Niners haven’t disappointed through two contests this season.
John Cullen led his women’s soccer team to a 1-0 victory in the season opener against the Davidson Wildcats and then took to the road and defeated the N.C. State Wolfpack 2-1 in overtime on Sunday afternoon.
Even with the 2-0 start to the new campaign, the Niners have still had to fight through adversity. Charlotte lost senior captain Katie Davies on defense because of a broken ankle before the season began and have started freshman, Alex Kubrick, in goal.
"Obviously it's been a good weekend for us," Cullen said. "Through two games we've learned to win from in front against Davidson and then obviously we went on the road, fell behind and came back and won. It's a learning curve, you've got to learn to win the games in different ways."
Kubrick hasn’t looked like a freshman though, combining for 10 saves in the opening week and recording her first career shutout Friday against the Wildcats. She also earned A-10 Rookie of the Week honors for her efforts between the pipes.
The 49ers opened 2009 in a similar fashion, scoring a combined eight goals en-route to a 2-0 start but dropped their third game to the Villanova Wildcats, 3-2. Charlotte again welcomes a non-conference opponent to Transamerica Field for their third game when the Arizona State Sun Devils come to town Friday night.
Equally impressive to Charlotte, the Sun Devils are also off to a 2-0 start and have combined for seven goals over the first two games in wins over Baylor and Northern Arizona.
"We definitely have to bring a defensive intensity, they have obviously come out of the gates flying," Cullen said. "They have scored seven goals in the first two games so they're obviously hitting the back of the net. We've got to make sure our concentration levels are pretty high and we've got to have that defensive intensity but at the same time we still have to go out and play our game and our style."
Charlotte and Arizona State last met in the 2007-08 season when the Niners traveled to Tempe as part of a two-game road trip. The 49ers suffered a hard-fought, 1-0 defeat. The Sun Devils’ Karin Volpe scored the game-winning goal in that particular match as a freshman and will now visit Charlotte as a senior. Volpe entered 2010 with 19 career goals and 46 points and has already tallied two goals in Arizona State’s first two games, including the game-winner with just one minute left in the season opener.
"Obviously we need to be aware of her presence on the field at all times," Cullen said. "I think when you focus on one player you can lose sight of the other dangerous players that they bring. Ultimately we just tell our players that every player is a threat, especially in and around our box. We just talk about attention to detail and focus on picking up the dangerous players."
Charlotte senior Whitney Weinraub hasn’t found the back of the net yet in 2010, but she is due for a breakout at any moment. Weinraub entered 2010 with 31 career goals, which is tied for the third highest total in Charlotte history. She needs just six more tallies to break the all-time program record.
Charlotte is known for its passing efficiency and strong defensive play and will surely be tested when the high-scoring Sun Devils visit the Queen city. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.
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