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Women’s Soccer Opens 2011 Season Friday At Home Against Georgia Southern

Eagles Enter Year Two Of The Spencer Smith Era

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ROCK HILL, SC – The Winthrop women's soccer team will kick off its 2011 campaign on Friday evening with a 7 p.m. showdown against the Georgia Southern Eagles at Eagle Field.

The Eagles enter their second season under the direction of 2010 Big South Coach of the Year Spencer Smith, who guided Winthrop to a 7-10-2 overall record last season and 6-2-1 mark in the conference. The Eagles were Big South Co-Regular Season Champions and earned the top seed for the Big South Tournament, but fell to eventual tournament champions High Point in the semi-final round.

Winthrop returns seven starters from last year's squad, including two First Team All-Conference members in senior forward Courtney Durbin and junior midfielder Allie VandeWater. Durbin was the team's leading scorer in 2010 with eight goals and 18 points, while VandeWater tied for the team lead with four assists. Redshirt-senior goalkeeper Kelsy Weavil also returns in net after recording four shutouts last season to go with 62 saves and a GAA of 0.97.

The Eagles will, however, have to replace four starters in 2011 including First Team All-Conference defender Katie Perkinson, Second Team All-Conference forward Tricia Vensel, defender Lindsay Taylor and midfielder Tiana Tallant. Perkinson started in all 19 games last season, while Vensel tied for the team lead with four assists and was second with four goals. Taylor also started in all 19 games last season, and Tallant recorded two goals and four points.

Winthrop was predicted to finish tied for sixth with conference newcomer Campbell in the 2011 Big South Conference Women's Soccer Preseason Poll. The Eagles prepared for Friday night's season opener by playing two exhibition contests at home against the Wofford Terriers (Aug. 12), and on the road with the Catawba Indians (Aug. 16).

The contest with Georgia Southern will be the fourth in program history, with Winthrop holding a 2-1 series advantage. It will be the first meeting against the Eagles since 2007, when GSU won 1-0 in double-overtime. The Eagles won the first-ever meeting between the two teams 3-1 in 2005, and also picked up a 1-0 decision during the 2006 season.

Winthrop owns a 1-1 record with Georgia Southern when playing at Eagle Field.

GSU is coached by first-year head coach Lindsey Vanderspiegel, who spent the previous four seasons as an assistant coach at Hofstra. Georgia Southern went 5-12-1 last season and finished 12th in the Southern Conference with a 2-8-1 record. Senior forward Sara Oland is the team's top returning scorer from 2010 with nine goals, while sophomore goalkeeper Katie Merson returns in the net for Georgia Southern after finishing last season with 60 saves.


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