SPARTANBURG, SC— Matt Stinson scored in the 78th minute for the only Winthrop goal as the men's soccer team battled Wofford College to a 1-1 tie, Saturday evening in non-conference action.
Winthrop is now 3-5-1 on the year while the Terriers are 1-4-2. Winthrop will be back in action on Wednesday, Oct. 6 when it hosts High Point at 7 p.m.
After seeing Wofford College dominate the first half of action and taking a 1-0 lead, Winthrop flipped the switch and applied pressure for the final 45 minutes. The offensive pressure finally paid off in the 78th minute when Stinson ran onto a ball that was cleared, took it off his chest and ripped a shot off a short hop into the lower right corner. The shot hit the post and straight into the back of the net.
The Terriers scored in the opening minutes of the match when Billy Padula scored on a header off a set piece. Armin Kinigadner served a corner kick to the far post where Wilson Hood headed the ball back across the front of the net. Padula was on the other end of the header as he used his own head to redirect the ball into the top right corner from six yards out.
“This certainly wasn't always pretty soccer tonight but what a game for fans to watch,” said Winthrop head coach Rich Posipanko. “Obviously disappointed in the way we played in our intensity and work rate the first half, but I thought the second half we picked things up to the point where we totally dominated play and had many opportunities to finish the game.”
Winthrop nearly won the game in the final moments as it was awarded a corner kick after Wofford keeper Andrew Drennan made two big saves. Winthrop pushed everyone into the box and Miquel Casajuana served the ball into the penalty area. The ball dropped right in front of the goal and after a collision in front of the net the ball popped out toward the top of the box. Matt Horn moved over to the ball and hit a left footed shot that found its way through the crowd and pinged off the crossbar and over with one second remaining in double-overtime.
Before the corner, Stinson ran onto another ball that was cleared and ripped a left footed shot from about 18 yards away and Drennan made the save to his left but gave up a rebound. Andres Pullin followed the shot and tried to squeeze a shot between the keeper and the near post, but Drennan turned away the shot again and just to the side netting outside of the post.
Scott Redding tried to win the game for Wofford with just over a minute remaining as he ripped a shot one time after it had been poorly cleared by the Winthrop defense, but the shot was right at Banfield for the save. There was an even better opportunity for the Terriers in the 107th minute as Ryan Hurst found himself with the ball and heading to goal all alone with just Banfield between him and the net. Hurst dribbled the ball trying to create himself an angle for a shot as Daniel DiBiago chased him down and as he ripped a shot, DiBiagio slid in front and blocked it. The ball popped right back out to Hurst who ripped another, but the shot was deflected again and rolled over the end line for a corner.
Wofford took 12 shots in the first half to just the Eagles two and ended with a total of 19. Winthrop finished with 20 shots, including a 12-1 advantage in the second half.
The goal was Stinson's third of the season and second straight game in which he's scored. Tom Banfield is now 1-0-1 after he made seven saves.
“Even though it finished in a tie, I think there are many positives we can take away in a game of this nature,” added Posipanko. “If we can bottle that final 45 minutes to a full game during the season we have a chance to be a good ball club. I think both teams are much better than their current record indicates. I thought Wofford was very organized and well coached and played extremely hard.”
