ROCK HILL, SC— The Winthrop men's soccer team will look to improve off its opening season win as it hosts the Big South/Southern Shootout beginning Thursday, Sept. 1 at Eagle Field.
There will be two games played on Thursday followed by two more games on Saturday, Sept. 3. Winthrop will face Georgia Southern Thursday evening at 7 p.m. and Wofford College at 7 p.m. on Saturday. Prior to the Winthrop game on Thursday, Gardner-Webb will face Wofford College at 4:30 p.m. and the Runnin' Bulldogs will face Georgia Southern on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
“To ease scheduling issues the Big South Conference and Southern Conference have committed to play the Big South/Southern Shootout over the next four years, with Winthrop hosting the first event,” said Winthrop head men's soccer coach Rich Posipanko. “Over the next three years, Wofford, Georgia Southern and Gardner-Webb will be hosting. It is great for scheduling knowing we have the same weekend with limited travel as well for the next four years. We would expect all games to be very competitive. We are also involved in a similar set-up the following weekend with Furman, The College of Charleston and UNC Asheville in Greenville, SC.”
Winthrop faces a Georgia Southern team that opened the season with an impressive 5-0 victory over North Florida on the road, including a three-goal second half. The same two teams squared off in Statesboro, GA last season with a close game until the 85th minute when Winthrop had a player ejected. That's when the flood gates opened as GSU scored three goals in the final six minutes of the match for a 4-0 victory. Senior Luigi Clendining scored the first two goals in the win at UNF and also assisted on another goal. Red-shirt sophomore Witt Carlisle also had two goals and an assist. Both players currently lead the Southern Conference in scoring after the opening week. Winthrop is 8-6-2 all-time against Georgia Southern.
Wofford, Winthrop's opponent Saturday evening, opened the season with a 2-1 victory over USC Upstate on the road. It only took the Terriers 18 seconds into the season to score a goal as they managed two in the first half and held on. USC Upstate got off 16 shots against the Terriers, but goalkeeper Zach Woolever made six saves in the win. Winthrop and Wofford each battled to a 1-1 tie in Spartanburg, SC as Winthrop overcame a goal just 1:33 into the game by the Terriers and tied the game in the 78th minute.
Winthrop leads the all-time series 21-8-2.
In its season opener, Winthrop received goals from first year players Melo Matutu and Alex Mantchev in a 2-0 win over Brevard College. Junior Enrique Miranda earned his fifth career shutout with three saves in the match.
