ROCK HILL, SC—Despite three straight losses, the Eagle men's soccer can start over as it hosts its Big South Conference opener Saturday evening at Eagle Field. All the slates are wiped clean and everyone starts fresh.
For the third time in five seasons, Winthrop will open Big South action against Liberty. Kick-off is set for 7 p.m.
This will not be the conference opener as Liberty opened at Radford on Sept. 18 and suffered a 1-0 setback. The loss to the Highlanders was the second straight for the Flames, but they bounced back in a big way this past Tuesday with a 4-1 win over Howard. The Flames opened the season at home, but have since been on the road starting with Longwood and then heading to a tournament at Virginia Military Institute. After the tournament Liberty has played three straight on the road and Saturday's game will be the fourth straight and seventh straight away from Lynchburg, VA.
So many games on the road shouldn't affect Liberty too much as it fields a very experienced team and so far this year the team has put together a solid 4-2-1 record.
Liberty entered the week as the 25th ranked offense in the country and on Tuesday showed why with four goals against Howard. In seven games the Flames are averaging 2.43 goals per game and allowing 0.86, which ranks among the Top 50 in the nation. The offense is led by red shirt sophomore Darren Amoo, who has five goals and an assist on the year. Playing a more balanced role is junior Phillip Aseweh, who has four goals and three assists on the year (ranking 45th nationally in points per game before the game against Howard). In addition to a veteran midfield and front line, Liberty's red shirt junior goalkeeper Paul Gilbert plays a big role in a defense holding teams to less than a goal per game. Gilbert has one shutout this year and has played all but roughly 19 minutes of the season in goal.
The Eagles have struggled in their last three games with losses at UNC Wilmington, East Tennessee State and Georgia Southern, having been outscored 7-0. It's the first time since the 1995 season a Winthrop team was shutout three games straight. All three games have been close, minus the last five minutes of the game at Georgia Southern when the Eagles went down a man and allowed three goals. The last goal Winthrop scored was in the 50th minute in a 3-0 win over Long Island on Sept. 10.
Winthrop has won four straight Big South openers and is undefeated in its last eight, having tied Birmingham-Southern 1-1 in 2005. The Eagles have an impressive 19-6-1 all-time record in conference openers, including a 13-4-1 record at home. Since the inaugural season of the Big South in 1984, Winthrop and Liberty have met just three times in conference openers with the Eagles holding a slight 2-1 advantage.
Despite having recent success against the Flames, it is Liberty that has dominated the all-time series with a 19-9-1 record. Liberty won 12 straight until the Eagles ended the losing streak in 2004 with a 7-5 win at home.
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