ROCK HILL, SC – The Winthrop women's soccer team, looking for its first birth in the finals of the Big South Conference Tournament since 2009, will take on the #1 seeded High Point Panthers Friday, November 2 at 4:30 p.m. on Eagle Field.
The Lady Eagles enter the contest coming off a 3-0 victory over Coastal Carolina, while High Point defeated Charleston Southern 3-0 on Saturday, October 27
th in the quarterfinals of the Big South Conference Tournament.
Grace Radler scored two goals and added one assists to lead Winthrop to its fourth consecutive semifinal appearance.
This will be the second meeting of the season between the Lady Eagles and the Panthers who played to a 3-3 draw on September 27
th. In that contest Winthrop jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first five minutes of the game with goals coming from
Krystyna Freda and
Allie VandeWater. High Point responded with goals from Becca Hemby and Janay Whittaker, two minutes apart to draw even at halftime.
The Lady Eagles took their second lead of the game when
Taylor Coleman scored her first career goal, however, the Panthers responded once again on Hemby's second goal of the evening to nod the score up at 3-3.
The Winthrop offense, which is ranked 20
th in the nation in scoring, is led by a pair of sophomores in
Grace Radler and
Krystyna Freda who have had record breaking seasons. Radler has 12 assists this season which ranks 2
nd in the nation and broke the schools single season record. Freda with 32 points this season and 13 goals overtook Chelsea White as Winthrop's career leader in both categories. Nationally, Freda ranks 20
th in goals and 22
nd in total points.
Defensively, the Lady Eagles have posted shutouts in three of its last four games and seven total shutouts this season.
Amelia Henderson and
Sarah Schippers have been splitting duties in net with Henderson leading the team with 69 saves this season.
Megan Pritts,
Ashley Herndon,
Kylene Babauta and
Megan David along with
Okina Crawley have been at the heart of the defense which has allowed just three goals in the last six games.
High Point has been equally impressive defensively posting shutouts in six of its last eight games and seven total shutouts this season. Jesse May has played the majority of the minutes in goal for the Panthers with 82 saves on the season and a 1.12 goals-against average.
Becca Hemby leads the High Points attack with 11 goals this season which ties her for second in the conference. Jacky Kessler and Taylor Parker are tied for the team lead with eight assists each which ranks third in the conference.
The winner will move into the Big South Conference Championship game which will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday November, 4 at Eagle Field against the winner of the Longwood vs. Radford matchup.
