Box Score Live Stats

WINSTON-SALEM, NC—Wake Forest's goal in the 70^th minute of the match decided the game as the Winthrop men's soccer team lost 1-0 at Wake Forest, Sunday evening in non-conference action.

The Demon Deacons had been applying pressure on the Eagles with three corners over the previous three minutes before the goal and finally broke through at the 69:08 mark. Ross Tomaselli received a ball about 35 yards out from goal in the middle of the field and turned to an open space and began the attack. Tomaselli looked as if he was going to rip a shot when he chipped a through ball to Luca Gimenez. Gimenez ran right at the ball and struck a one-touch shot from the top of the box that dipped over Patrick Walsh's head into the right corner of the net.

The loss is the fifth straight for the Eagles, who fall to 3-5 on the year. It's the first time since 2004 the Eagles have lost five straight games. It's also the fourth straight shutout suffered by Winthrop, which hasn't scored in the last 407 minutes and 38 seconds of action.

“I was very pleased with our work rate tonight, however it's a loss that we're not happy about,” said Winthrop head coach Rich Posipanko. “I still think there is a lot of positive to take away from this game before heading into our first conference game at High Point. We're in the eighth game of the season and that's the work rate I've been looking for the entire 90 minutes. We defended well tonight as a team, but still have work to do going forward.”

Winthrop had two good chances for a goal in the opening five minutes of the match. The first one came 23 seconds in as Akeem Matthews was set up on a one-on-one from an angle after a nice through ball over the top by Adam Brundle. Matthews collected the pass and dribbled right toward goal, but his shot attempt didn't have much on it and the shot was an easy save for Michael Lisch. At the 4:47 mark, Mason Lavallet broke free into the box to the left of the goalie, almost the same spot as Matthews. Lavallet went right toward goal and then laid a pass in front of the net toward Alex Pullin as he ran on, but the ball slipped by Pullin and two Wake Forest defenders.

Winthrop also got into the box a few times in the second half, but couldn't pull the trigger on a few opportunities. Josh Goldstein ripped a shot from about 25-30 yards out in the 83^rd minute, but Lisch was already cheating and had a jump on the shot and caught the shot as it headed toward the top left corner of the frame.

The Eagles' Patrick Walsh made 11 saves in the match, including a couple of big ones in the first half. In the 13^th minute, Sean Okoli had a good chance from close range but his shot was turned away by Walsh. Another notable save came in the 66^th minute when Gimenez received a cross all alone at the back post and collected the ball and ripped a shot on goal from around eight yards away that Walsh turned away.

Posipanko was pleased with some of the players that had to step up and play more minutes tonight as starters Alex Isern, Daniel Di Biagio and Tomas Brennan were out for the match. “I was torn between taking the two weeks off or playing the game because of some of the injuries we have and four guys being out. Didn't know if it was going to be better to rest and be healthy but didn't feel that much time out would not have been the best for the team overall.”

Winthrop would have not played a match for 12 days before opening Big South Conference action on Oct. 1 at High Point if the game wasn't added to the schedule. One of the main subs in Alex Bolton also missed the game.

The next match for Winthrop will be its conference opener on Saturday, Oct. 1 at High Point at 7 p.m. Winthrop has won three of its last four conference openers, but lost to Liberty in the 2010 opener at home.