CONWAY, SC—Joe Anderson's goal in the 109th minute handed the Winthrop men's soccer team its third straight loss, Saturday afternoon in a 2-1 double-overtime loss to Coastal Carolina.
Coastal Carolina (9-5-1, 5-1) moved the ball down the field, played a couple of quick passes and flicked a ball through to Anderson. The senior midfielder turned to his left and by a Winthrop defender, firing a shot to the far post past Michael Flato for the game-winner.
“I'm extremely disappointed with the result,” said Winthrop head coach Rich Posipanko. “Thought we competed well and had some opportunities to put the game away. I think we didn't do a very good job with game management with two minutes to go. Especially playing away from home and dealing with injuries. All the credit to Coastal as it is a very well organized defensively. They are the top ranked defense in the league. In the end, they seemed to want the game a little more than we did. Overall, extremely pleased with our performance and certainly making progress in the right direction.”
The Eagles (4-9-1, 2-4) gave up a goal midway through the first half as Leo Mukofsky dribbled the ball up field uncontested for about 25 yards. He then cut his way around a couple of Eagle defenders and then hit a shot toward the upper part of the goal that Flato got his hands on, but it slipped through and into the net.
Miquel Casajuana netted the equalizer in the 42nd minute, his second straight game with a goal. Tomas Brennan dribbled the ball toward the touch line and crossed the ball into the middle. Coastal Carolina keeper Scott Angevine got a bit of his hand on the ball and came right out to Casajuana, who then slipped the ball into the net from four yards out.
The first half saw both teams with opportunities for more goals, but neither took advantage. Winthrop's Matt Stinson dribbled the ball toward goal, went through two defenders and laid off a pass to Tinotenda Chibharo. The freshman midfielder turned and fired a left footed shot that shot off the crossbar back toward the top of the penalty area. Moments later Matt Horn served a ball into the box as Andres Pullin ran on and headed the ball toward the frame, but Angevine made a diving save. Anderson had a chance in the 28th minute when ripped a shot from 18 yards, but Flato made one of his career-best 11 saves.
Coastal had two chances early on in the second half as Robby Joe Daniels and Kristoffer Sandtroen each had shots from about 10 yards out off a couple of flicks that bounced right to their feet. However, Flato made diving saves both times to deny the Chanticleers.
The best two chances the Eagles had in the second half came in the final 16 minutes. Stinson set up Andres Pullin with a one-on-one from an angle, but as he hit his shot toward the goal it was blocked by a defender. The ball bounced back toward Adam Skonicki, who then ripped a shot low to the left corner where Angevine made the save. With less than four minutes to play, Pullin set up Chibharo with a one-on-one. Chibharo ripped a shot low just inside the 18-yard box that hit a defender and deflected right into the hand of Angevine, who tipped it over the end line for a corner.
Skonicki had Winthrop's best scoring chance in overtime as he picked up a loose ball around the corner of the top of the penalty area, took a touch toward the middle and bent a shot to the top right corner. The shot looked as if it was going in for the game-winner, but Angevine dove backward and was able to get his finger tips on the ball and turn it away. Angevine finished the game with eight saves.
Winthrop will look to end its three-game losing streak on Wednesday, Oct. 27 when it hosts Gardner-Webb at 7 p.m.
