Charlotte 49ers soccer updates; golf team heading to Japan

-- The unbeaten 49ers women's soccer team finishes a three-game season-opening homestand Tuesday at 7 p.m. against Gardner-Webb at Transamerica Field. The 49ers (2-0) won their first two games by identical 1-0 scores against Liberty and UNC Wilmington, with Amanda Jones scoring both goals and goalkeeper Alex Kubrick recording both shutouts.

Kubrick won Conference USA defensive player of the week honors for the clean sheets.

Gardner-Webb is 0-1-1, tying North Florida 1-1 on Friday.

Charlotte plays its first road game Sunday at Elon.

-- The 49ers men's soccer team, ranked in the top 25 in most polls in the preseason, wrapped up the exhibition season with a 4-1 victory against Davidson on Saturday at Transamerica Field. Giussi Gentile had two goals, with Will Mayhew and Kyle Parker also scoring.

The 49ers open their regular season Friday at Denver. That's not the only long trip the 49ers will take this season: They play Conference USA games at New Mexico (Oct. 4) and Tulsa (Oct. 13), the two teams ranked above the 49ers in the league's preseason poll.

-- Other sports' season openers have cross-country at the Gamecock Invitational in Columbia on Friday; volleyball plays Cal State-Bakersfield and Davidson on Friday in a tournament at Davidson, with a match against Charleston Southern on Saturday.

-- But the longest trip this fall belongs to the 49ers' golf team, which will play in the Topy Cup in Tanagura, Japan, Sept. 10-12. The 49ers will be in Japan for a week, joining Texas Christian, Alabama-Birmingham and Washington in the field facing four Japanese teams at the Tanagura Country Club.