ROCK HILL, SC— The Winthrop men's soccer team heads to Statesboro, GA to take on Georgia Southern Sunday afternoon in its final preparation game for Big South Conference play.
Winthrop has lost two straight and has failed to score in either game as it is 2-3 on the year. It is the first 2-3 start for the Eagles since the 2005 season that was littered with suspensions. The team also started off 2-3 in 2004.
Georgia Southern enters the game 2-2-1 and is coming off a 2-1 win over North Florida. So far this year Georgia Southern is 0-1-1 against the Big South and this will be Winthrop's first game against a team from the Southern Conference. Winthrop is 4-1 in its last five games against a team from the SOCON.
The Eagles are in need of a win to avoid entering conference play on a three-game losing streak when they host Liberty on Saturday, Sept. 25.
GSU has scored eight goals so far this season having only been shutout in a 1-0 loss at High Point. Senior Austin Steele and sophomore Witt Carlisle lead the Eagles in goals with two each while four other players have also put one in the net. Junior Ryan Platt has seen action in every second of the season so far between the posts and is averaging six saves a match.
Winthrop has managed just five goals in five games and has not scored in the last 220 minutes of action after having scored three goals in 49 minutes and 24 seconds against Long Island. Defensively Winthrop has given up six goals on the year, but has shutouts in both wins.
The two teams have squared off 15 times in their history with Winthrop leading the all-time series 8-5-2. Winthrop is 3-2-1 all-time in Statesboro and the last meeting between the two schools took place on Sept. 30, 2006 with the game ending in a 1-1 tie. The two teams played in 2007, but the game was called after 20 minutes due to poor weather conditions so it was never official. The previous three meetings before the tie in Statesboro were all decided by one goal. All three games that have gone to overtime came in Statesboro as well.
