Charlotte 49ers' women's soccer team improves to 2-0

The 49ers' women's soccer team won their second consecutive game Friday night, beating Western Carolina 1-0 on a goal by Sara Trexler.

Trexler's goal came in the 16th minute and helped Charlotte win its home opener and improve to 2-0 on the season. Charlotte faces seventh-ranked Wake Forest (1-1-1) on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Transamerica Field. The Deacons will be the highest-ranked opponent ever to play at Transamerica Field.

"It was very important to keep the winning momentum going," coach John Cullen said of Friday's victory against the Catamounts (0-2). "It is always nice to start off with another victory, in front of your own fans. They pulled us through tonight, at times, I thought. We were a little off the pace, but we'll take the W."

Big soccer weekend for 49ers

The Charlotte 49ers' men's and women's soccer teams play home games this weekend, while the volleyball team opens its season on the road Friday at the East Carolina Classic.

-- The fifth-ranked men's soccer team opens its season Saturday at 7 p.m. at Transamerica Field against Denver. Charlotte (16-5-4 last season) has eight starters back from last season's team that made it all the way to the championship game of the College Cup. The 49ers get a stern test on Monday when they host Coastal Carolina, which is also ranked in most preseason national polls.

-- The 49ers' women, who started their season with a 2-1 victory at College of Charleston, are home Friday to Western Carolina (0-1) at 7 p.m. and Sunday to seventh-ranked Wake Forest (1-0-1) at 1 p.m. The Deacons,who are home to UNC Greensboro on Friday, started their season last week with a victory against
Richmond and a tie against UNC Wilmington. The Deacons are without all-American striker Katie Stengel for a while: she is playing for the United States in the U20 World Cup in Japan.

-- Charlotte's volleyball team plays Bethune-Cookman on Friday at 4 p.m. in the ECU Classic, followed by matches Saturday against Campbell (11 a.m.) and East Carolina (7 p.m.). The 49ers are led by senior Bianca Rouse, who needs 24 kills to reach the 1,000 mark for her career.

Soccer America ranks Charlotte 49ers 5th

Soccer America magazine has ranked the Charlotte 49ers' men's team fifth in its preseason poll. Here's the magazine's preview of the 49ers.

Here's also a run down of Charlotte's preseason national rankings:

Soccer America: 5
College Soccer News: 3
Topdrawer Soccer: 28
NSCAA: 8

Major pleased with Bahamas trip

The 49ers men's basketball team wrapped up its two-game trip to the Bahamas last week with two easy victories against two of the country's "all-star" teams. 49ers coach Alan Major was happy with how things turned out, but warned to take the opposition "with a grain of salt." Here are a few of Major's observations from the trip:

-- Not having center Chris Braswell (broken foot) playing gave more playing time to red-shirt freshman Mike Thorne, who averaged 11.5 rebounds in the two games.

"Mike's a little green from not playing last season, so this was his first real competition in a while," said Major. "He rebounded really well."

-- The trip also gave Major a chance to look at the team's four freshmen. "I liked the young guys' effort," he said. "(Denzel) Ingram ran the team well and distributed. Willie (Clayton) and Darion (Clark) gave us energy and rebounded. Ivan (Benkovic) had some stretches where he shot it well."

-- Major said senior forward J.T. Thompson doesn’t appear to be favoring either of the knees that he had surgery on before he transferred to Charlotte from Virginia Tech. Thompson missed the past two seasons after injuring both his knees in the preseason.

“His knees are fine,” said Major. “But he’s still getting his wind. But he’s going to really help us. He’s got this sense of calmness on the floor that I hope rubs off. He’s not out there feeling like he has to prove himself.”

-- Major said sophomore point guard Pierria Henry made his presence felt in the first game, starting a rally by being disruptive on defense and hitting a few jump shots.

“That’s the next step for Pierria and something he wasn’t that comfortable with last season,” said Major. “He’s got to recognize when the shot is there for him, then step up and knock it down.”

-- Sophomores Terrence Williams and E. Victor led the 49ers in scoring in each game, something Major hopes happens often next season.

“They had good off-seasons and it showed,” Major said. “They’re rounding out their games and that’s good to see.”

 

49ers go 2-0 in Bahamas

The 49ers' men's basketball team wrapped up its two-game preseason trip to the Bahamas with a 112-74 victory against the Bahamas Stingers on Thursday.

Charlotte, which won the first game of the trip on Tuesday, got 19 points from sophomore E. Victor Nickerson. Freshman center Mike Thorne had 14 points and 13 rebounds, while guard Colby Lewis added 16 points, freshman forward Willie Clayton had 16 and sophomore guard Terrence Williams had 15.

The 49ers were hot from outside, making 50 percent of their shots from 3-point range.

49ers open Bahamas trip with victory

The Charlotte 49ers won the opening game of a two-game trip to the Bahamas on Tuesday with an 86-63 victory against the two-time national champion Bahamas Giants.

Terrence Williams scored 21 points on 10-of-15 shooting to lead Charlotte. Point guard Pierria Henry had 16 points and seven assists, while freshman forward Darion Clark added 11 points and five rebounds.

Freshman guard Denzel Ingram hit a 3-pointer from the quarter to start a third-quarter run by Charlotte. He then had a steal on the Bahamas' next possession that led to a dunk.

The 49ers led 35-25 at halftime and outrebounded the Giants by 15.

The 49ers play the second and final game of their Bahamas trip on Thursday at 6 p.m.

Charlotte 49ers' Gibson named to Hermann watch list

Charlotte 49ers junior midfielder Tyler Gibson has been named to the Hermann Trophy's watch list -- college soccer's equivalent of football's Heisman Trophy.

Gibson is a two-time all-Atlantic 10 selection and was the league's freshman of the year in 2010. He was also a freshman all-American that season.

The Hermann watch list will be narrowed to 15 players in late November.


The 49ers open their season Aug. 25 at home against Denver.