ROCK HILL, SC-- The men's soccer team will look for its fourth straight semi-finals appearance at the Big South Conference tournament Thursday afternoon at noon (CT), when the Eagles take on sixth-seeded UNC Asheville.
The game will be available through live stats at:
http://www.bscsports.net/livestats-ms/xlive.htm
The Eagles, who finished the regular season 7-11 overall and 4-3 in the Big South, look for their first win since they last won at UNCA on Oct. 26 4-0. Since then Winthrop has lost three games by one goal. The victory at UNCA was Winthrop's eighth straight over the Bulldogs, but head coach Rich Posipanko knows this game is going to be a tough one.
"If I had a preference I would much rather play a team we lost to for a first round game," said Posipanko. "It is so difficult to beat a good team twice. UNCA is a well coached, organized team. In our regular season game we won easily, but we played very well and it probably wasn't UNCA's best day. They are much better than they showed the first time and I think everyone is expecting a very close game this time around, especially considering what's on the line."
Last season the Eagles opened up the conference tournament with UNCA and defeated them 5-1 under very windy conditions.
For the first time since the 2000 season, the Eagles finished the regular season with a record below .500 when they finished 8-9-1. A record of 7-11 is not what Posipanko would have imagined with the talent he had on the team this season.
"We certainly did not have the type of season we expected in terms of wins and losses, but at the same time we still feel we have a good chance at winning the tournament and like our chances," said Posipanko.
The one thing Winthrop hasn't had a hard time doing in the past three years is scoring goals, but early in the season the Eagles struggled putting the ball in the net and ended up losing six of its first eight games, five of them in a row. Three of the losses were by one goal and during the five-game losing streak the Eagles only managed to score one goal each game.
Winthrop broke out of the scoring funk with 11 goals in its first two conference games; 4-2 win over High Point and a 7-5 victory over Liberty.
After losing almost 50 percent of its scoring from 2003, the Eagles needed some returning players and newcomers to step up. Dee Vydra had a solid season with nine goals and one assist. He scored his second career hat-trick in the win over Liberty. There were 11 different players that scored at least one goal this season as opposed to eight last year. Newcomers David Kenga and Sean Weron were second on the team with four goals. Kenga, a sophomore transfer, finished with three goals and an assist in five conference contests. Weron, a true freshman, was one of the most consistent players for the Eagles.
The most consistent player of the season was sweeper David Garry, who continued to provide leadership for the Eagles and was the mainstay on defense. The two-time All-Big South selection started all 18 games (only Winton made 18 starts as well). He also added some offense to his game this season with a goal and three assists. The lone goal was a game-winner in overtime against VMI at home.
Senior Lloyd Afriyie finished the regular season with three goals and five assists. Junior Michael Chumah was the top returning scorer from last year, but missed the first five games of the season with an injury. He finished the season with a goal and six assists.
The team has had injury and card issues all season, but the team is finally healthy and complete. "This will be the first game in awhile where everyone is healthy or card free and available to play," Posipanko added.
Another reason for the 7-11 record would be the tough schedule the Eagles played. Four of the Eagles opponents were ranked in the Top 25 and a total of eight of them were ranked either nationally or regionally at some point during the season. Most recently a 2-1 loss at top-ranked UNC Greensboro. "It's not a surprise we're 7-11, it's just a disappointment," said Posipanko. "We just did not get it done in the games we felt were toss ups. We had an opportunity to win almost every game we played this season. Hopefully there is some payoff to playing a difficult schedule."
Posipanko knows it's not going to be easy to win the tournament, but that his team is capable. "We still need to cut down on our mental mistakes if we expect to win the Championship. We had the outcome of five games determined by own goals this season, while at the same time giving up way too many goals from restarts due to silly fouls within 20 yards of the goal. If we clean up these type of mental errors, we are a very good team which is capable of playing with anyone in the nation. Having said all this, the Big South is very balanced this year and there are four or five teams that are capable of winning this tournament."
