Men's soccer team drops a close one

DAVIDSON -- Jeremy Gunn's debut as the Charlotte 49ers' men's soccer coach saw mixed results Friday night at Davidson's Alumni Stadium.

Charlotte did well to give itself several good opportunities to score against San Jose State, but ended up only able to capitalize once and lost 2-1 in the opening round of the adidas Classic.

The 49ers (0-1) will try again for their first win on Sunday, facing St. Mary's (Calif.) at 2 p.m. Davidson and San Jose State will meet at noon Sunday.

Here is a brief post-game Q&A with Gunn:

Q: Was this a game of missed opportunities?
Gunn: The players worked very hard and overall I thought we were a much better team. San Jose State managed to get back into the game after a tough first half, but that's what happens when you get to the goal -- the players get excited. Leading into halftime we were down. The second half, I couldn't have asked for more out of the guys. They were under a lot of pressure. San Jose State scored a great goal that deserved to win any game. When they looked at what they did to win it, it was a great strike. We had them on the ropes for such a long period, we just have to find a way to score a little more.

Q: Is it frustrating to have chances but not finish them?
Gunn: I find it encouraging that we were creating chances to score. If we weren't getting chances, we'd have a lot more to worry about. We had a lot of young players out there, a lot playing their first college game that counts. There were tiny little things in the game that decided the result, but overall I was pleased.

Q: Considering it was your first game and you're a first-year coach, how would you assess how the team has progressed in a short period of time?
Gunn: The boys have done very, very well. The reality is when you are starting off fresh, there are always going to be little things that change games that you are not going to make go away. We're playing very good soccer and I am extremely excited about that. The only thing now, is as we gain experience, we should learn how to manage the game a little bit better and how to do the damage where it counts.


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