ROCK HILL, SC— The regular season comes to a close for the men's soccer team as it travels to Asheville, NC to take on the UNCA Bulldogs on Wednesday at 3 p.m.
Winthrop has a chance to finish conference play with an even record of 4-4 if it can pull off a win in Asheville. The Eagles are trying to avoid their first losing season in Big South play since 1999.
The Eagles (5-10-1) own a 22-8-2 advantage in the all-time series that dates back to the 1976 season. Winthrop is 8-5 all-time at UNC Asheville and lost the previous meeting there in 2008.
Both teams are coming off non-conference losses as Winthrop fell 3-2 in overtime at home to Marshall while Asheville lost 2-0 at home to Wofford. Winthrop has lost four of its last five games and the Bulldogs have lost five straight.
During the Eagles stretch of four losses in five games, the team has scored six goals and allowed 14. Giving up late goals has been a theme in that group of games as the Eagles have allowed six goals after the 78th minute of the match.
Miquel Casajuana, the team's leading scorer, returns after serving a suspension for card accumulation. Winthrop also hopes to welcome back Wylie Rea and Andres Pullin back to the line-up after having missed last Saturday's game with injuries. Rea is a starter in the back for Winthrop and Pullin two goals and two assists on the year.
Winthrop continued to go with Michael Flato in goal over the weekend as he made three saves in the loss to Marshall.
Asheville (3-11-1, 1-5 BSC) has struggled a bit offensively this season having scored 13 goals in 15 games. Juniors Colton Paschall and Jake Hagedorn lead the team with three goals each while junior Connor Holzinger leads the team with seven points (a goal and five assists).
Junior Lassi Hurskainen has played every minute this season and posts a 1.74 goals against average with two shutouts.
A win on Wednesday could give Winthrop a chance to finish as good as fourth place in the standings. Winthrop is two wins ahead of Asheville and one win ahead of VMI. The Bulldogs and VMI each have two conference games remaining. Winthrop is tied in wins with Liberty and Gardner-Webb, but those two teams have two conference games left as well. Winthrop could finish anywhere from fourth to seventh.
LAST MEETING IN ASHEVILLE: When these two teams met in 2008 in Asheville, NC, the Eagles were riding a seven-game winning streak but suffered a 1-0 loss. The Eagles, going against the wind in the first half, were able to weather the storm and keep the Bulldogs off the scoreboard. Winthrop had the advantage in the second half going with the wind and created a lot of shots, but it was UNC Asheville that found the net in the 65th minute. Winthrop had 18 shots to the Bulldogs nine, but Hurskainen made nine saves to earn the shutout.
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