ROCK HILL, SC—The men's soccer team looks to rebound off its worst loss in seven seasons as it hosts nationally ranked College of Charleston, Tuesday evening at Eagle Field. Kick-off is set for 7 p.m.
If history holds true, one of the two teams will end up with a win Tuesday night as the two programs have battled 21 times over a 35-year span and have never finished in a draw. The Cougars lead the all-time series 14-7, but Winthrop has won the previous three meetings, including two in Charleston, SC. All three of those games were decided by one goal and two of the matches went to overtime.
One unique note about the series with the College of Charleston over the past three seasons is that senior Miquel Casajuana has scored a goal in all three. The midfielder out of Barcelona, Spain scored the first goal in a 2-1 overtime win in 2007. Then he's netted the game-winning goals in the past two meetings.
The Eagles (4-7-1) look to bounce back from their 5-0 loss at Radford on Saturday as they return to their home field, where they've earned 50 percent of their wins this season and scored six goals in the last time they played at Eagle Field. However, the last four home games, Winthrop allowed three goals in each.
The Cougars enter the match with a 9-2-2 record and are currently 4-0-1 in the Southern Conference. So far this season CofC has an impressive resume and has been strong offensively and defensively. The offense has produced 24 goals and defensively the team has allowed just eight goals. Entering the week, the Cougars ranked 10th nationally in goals against average (0.53) and the offense ranked 34th at 1.82 goals per game. Last week CofC tied UNC Greensboro, 2-2, on the road and defeated Georgia Southern 2-0 at home. Only two times this season have the Cougars failed to score. CofC has wins over Bucknell, #19 Wake Forest, Coastal Carolina and Elon.
Sophomore midfielder Sean de Silva leads the team in scoring with five goals and six assists. Sophomore Francis Twohig also has five goals and has come off the bench in eight of the 12 games he's played. Ralph Lundy, the son of College of Charleston's head coach, is second on the team with four assists and is one of seven players that have started all 13 games.
There were a couple of experienced goalkeepers returning for the Cougars this season, but it has been a freshman that has made his mark in net as Kees Heemskerk has played every second and has recorded six shutouts.
Fifteen of the 24 goals scored by the Cougars this season have come in the second half, which may bode well for an Eagle team that has allowed a goal in the opening 10 minutes of a match six times this year and four in the opening five minutes.
One area CofC has been strong this season is off set pieces. Seven of the teams goals have come off a free kick or corner kick this season. Senior defender Sean Flatley has scored two of his three goals this year on headers off of a free kick and a corner kick. Five of the goals have been off corners, one header off a free kick and Lundy has the lone free kick for a goal in a strike against Wofford in a 4-1 win.
Winthrop is led in scoring by Casajuana, who has two goals and three assists. Matt Stinson has six points with his team-leading three goals while Andres Pullin has two goals and two assists on the year.
LAST MEETING: Winthrop scored a goal by Casajuana in the 42nd minute on a shot to the low corner just inside the penalty area. CofC did have 13 corner kicks in the game, but managed six shots to Winthrop's five in the match. Enrique Miranda made two saves to earn a shutout.
LAST LOSS TO COFC: The last loss to the Cougars came at home in 2003 as Winthrop was hammered 5-0. CofC scored two goals in the first half and added three goals in the second half. Five different players scored goals for the Cougars (Ricardo D. Granados, Jeremy Gold, Troy Lesesne, Ben Hollingsworth and Steve Loverso). Gold and Loverso each finished with a goal and an assist. Winthrop did manage 13 shots, including nine in the second half, but Keith Wiggans made five saves to earn the shutout.
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