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2012 Big South Conference Championship Bracket


ROCK HILL, SC—The Winthrop men's soccer team are the sixth-seed in the 2012 Big South Conference Championship and will travel to Lynchburg, VA to take on third-seeded Liberty on Tuesday, Nov. 6 at 6 p.m.

Winthrop finished the regular season with an overall record of 9-8-1 and a league mark of 5-4-1. The Eagles, looking for their first season with 10 or more wins since 2009, finished their final five games of the season with a 3-1-1 mark. Liberty finished the regular season 8-6-3 overall with a 6-1-3 record in league games.

The two teams meet in the postseason for the first time since the 2009 Big South Championship match. Winthrop won the game 2-1 after advancing to the game on back-to-back penalty kicks. The two teams have met a lot in recent years in the Big South Tourney. The teams squared off from 2005-2009 with the Eagles going 3-1-1 in those five matchups.

Winthrop was led in scoring this season by senior Alex Isern with seven goals and seven assists as the Eagles scored a total of 31 goals, but were only shutout three times. Junior Achille Obougou finished second on the team with six goals and two assists while senior Marc Segarra finished with six goals.

Winthrop has battled several injuries all season long and Obougou, Segarra, senior Tomas Brennand, junior midfielder Adam Brundle and freshman starting center back Kyle Kennedy all missed the first meeting with the Flames and will be eager to hit the field Tuesday evening.

Senior Enrique Miranda is likely to be in net for the Eagles as he's 4-2-1 on the year in seven starts and has allowed just five goals in those starts. He allowed more than one goal in a game for the first time all season on Saturday in the loss at Radford.

The Eagles will be looking for their first win in the opening round of the tournament since 2009 and their first win in the state of Virginia this season (0-3).

Liberty enters the game on a roll, having won six of its last nine games in which it is unbeaten in that time frame. After opening the season 2-6, the Flames won four straight and have earned ties against Winthrop, Gardner-Webb and UNC Asheville since with wins over High Point and Radford as well. In fact, six of the last seven games for Liberty have gone into overtime and three of them double-overtime. This season Liberty is 2-3-1 in overtime games and 0-1-3 in double-overtime.

The top scoring threat for Liberty this season has been red-shirt junior Kyle Breitmeyer, who finished with seven goals and an assist. Liberty had nine different goal scorers this season. Despite scoring only 19 goals on the year, Liberty's defense has been very impressive allowing just 22 goals (1.29 average). The team has recorded five shutouts and only allowed more than one goal during its nine game unbeaten streak.

Sophomore Scott Sutarik has been the mainstay in net for the Flames this season and is 7-4-3 on the year and has recorded all five shutouts. Sutarik has a 1.07 goals against average and is averaging 3.6 saves per game.

The defending Big South champs have advanced past the first round in five of the last six tournaments. Three of the last four meetings between Winthrop and Liberty in the conference tournament have gone into overtime.
 
Winthrop vs. Liberty Results In Big South Tournament

2009       #4Winthrop 2, #3 Liberty 1           BSC Title
2008       #1 Winthrop 1, #5 Liberty 1          BSC Semis, (2OT) WU won 5-4 PK
2007       #2 Liberty 1, #3 Winthrop 0          BSC Semis (2OT)
2006       #1 Winthrop 2, #4 Liberty 1          BSC Semis, (OT)
2005       #5 Winthrop 2, #4 Liberty 1          First Round
2001       #2 Liberty 4, #3 Winthrop 1          Semis
1999       #1 Liberty 4, #5 Winthrop 1          Semis
1998       #2 Liberty 2, #3 Winthrop 1          Semis
1994       #6 Liberty 3, #2 Winthrop 2          Semis (2OT)
1993       #5 Winthrop 1, #4 Liberty 0          First Round