ROCK HILL, SC-- After exploding for six goals in a victory over VMI this past Tuesday, the Winthrop men's soccer team hopes to continue its offensive success on Saturday when it heads to Radford, VA to take on Radford at 7 p.m.
The Eagles are 4-6-1 overall and are looking to move above .500 in league play. Radford is 5-4-2 on the year and 3-1 in the Big South.
Winthrop is 2-1-1 in its last four games while Radford is 2-2. The Eagles and Highlanders have played 29 times and the all-time series is at a deadlock, 12-12-3. Radford does hold the advantage in the Big South regular season meetings, 11-10-3. Radford has been extremely tough at home this season posting a perfect 3-0 record and outscoring opponents 7-1.
On the year Radford has scored 19 goals and allowed 19 goals. Iyiola Awosika, a junior forward out of London, England, leads the team with five goals and three assists. He ranks fourth in the Big South in scoring. Freshman midfielder Bernardo Ulmo has made an immediate impact as he's scored three times on the year as well as set up three more goals. He's tied for second on the team in points at nine with senior defender Mike Handlin, who has four goals on the year.
Sophomore Joey Dennis has been in net for the Highlanders the past five games and is 2-2-1 in that stretch. On the year he's see action in six games and has a 1.75 goals against average while making 20 saves.
The Eagles Matt Stinson, a freshman midfielder, still leads the team with three goals, but senior Miquel Casajuana now leads in points with seven (2 goals, 3 assists).
Tom Banfield remains in goal for the Eagles as they are 2-1-1 since he began to start. Banfield has a goals against average of 1.66 and has made 26 saves in four starts.
Winthrop is currently tied for third in the Big South standings with Gardner-Webb and Liberty. High Point is in first with a perfect 4-0 record while Coastal Carolina and Radford are tied for second with nine points (3-1 records).
Last Meeting against Radford: The two teams met in the regular season in 2009 in Rock Hill, SC where they battled to a 2-2 tie. All four goals were scored in the first half as Radford jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the opening 33 minutes, but Winthrop scored its first 31 seconds later on a Miquel Casajuana goal. Casajuana then tied the game three minutes later on a shot at the back post on a cross from Matthew Skonicki.
Last loss against Radford: Winthrop's last loss against Radford came in 2004 on the road. The Highlanders scored two second half goals to rally for a win, including the game-winner with under four minutes to play.
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