Box Score
GREENSBORO, NC—Alex Isern's goal in the 93
rd minute lifted sixth-seeded Winthrop to a 2-1 overtime victory over second-seeded Radford in the semifinals of the 2012 Big South Conference Championship, Friday evening at Bryan Park.
The Eagles, playing a man down, were able to fight through and Isern came through in a big way. Isern collected a through ball in the corner by
Adam Brundle, then dribbled the ball toward the middle of the field just outside the box and after a Radford player went in for the tackle, the ball popped up and Isern took a rip and found the lower right corner of the goal for his ninth of the season and first game-winner.
Winthrop (11-8-1) improved to 5-0-1 in overtime games this season as it was the second straight golden goal victory as the Eagles defeated Liberty on Tuesday by the same score.
The Eagles are in the Big South Championship match for the ninth time in school history and will face top-seeded Coastal Carolina, who is also ranked 8
th in the nation. It will be the fifth time Winthrop and Coastal Carolina square off in the Big South title game. The championship game will be on Sunday, Nov. 11 at 2 p.m. at Bryan Park. The game will also be available on ESPN3.
“I thought it was a well-deserved victory as I felt we had the better of it for 70 minutes,” said Winthrop head coach
Rich Posipanko. “We're excited to be back in the championship game.”
The Eagles were caught sleeping early and Radford took advantage with a goal in the 2
nd minute off a free kick. Jannik Eckenrode played a square ball to Chel Ho Park Kim straight on from goal and when it looked as if he might have a rip from 30 yards, Park Kim played the ball on the ground into the 18-yard box to a wide open Bernardo Ulmo. Ulmo collected the pass, took a couple of touches toward goal to
Enrique Miranda's left and slid the ball on the ground by Miranda to the lower left corner.
The match was tied after 45 minutes thanks to Isern.
Magnus Thorsson ripped a left footed shot from 30 yards to the top left corner as Ryan Taylor was able to leap and get a hand on the ball as it hit the crossbar and bounced back into play as Isern followed up the shot and headed it home into the empty net.
Miranda finished with three saves, including one early in overtime as Michael Hutcheon had a big rip from 25 yards that Miranda had to punch away. Taylor finished with six saves.
