ROCK HILL, SC—The Winthrop men's soccer team looks for its fifth straight victory when it hosts Longwood, Sunday evening at 6 p.m. on Eagle Field.
The Eagles opened up Big South Conference play last weekend against Liberty with a 2-0 win as they are now 7-2 on the year. Saturday will be "Fan Appreciation Day" as admission is only $1 with the first 100 fans receiving a free 2014 Winthrop Soccer t-shirt as well as prizes during the game.
During the four-game win streak the Eagles have begun to draw some attention at the national level. Winthrop saw its name pop up in two national polls at the start of this week with a ranking of 26
th by TopDrawerSoccer.com and 44
th by College Soccer News.
It wasn't just the team drawing attention as junior
Magnus Thorsson and senior
Guilherme Avelar received weekly honors. Thorsson scored three goals in two games with the game-winning goal in both contests last week and was rewarded by being named to the National Team of the Week for TopDrawerSoccer.com and College Soccer News. Avelar was named the Big South Conference Defensive Player of the Week as he returned from injury to record his first shutout of the season and his fifth as an Eagle.
Winthrop enters the matchup with the Lancers ranked 5
th nationally in scoring at 2.44 goals per game, which also tops the Big South Conference. The Eagles 22 goals total are tied for the third most scored by any team in the country. They are 13
th nationally in winning percentage and are 1-of-15 teams nationally with seven or more wins.
Leading the offense this season is Thorsson with five goals as he's ranked 28
th nationally in total goals (through games of Oct. 1) and ranks 48
th in total points. His five goals are second in the Big South. Junior
Jordan Stoddart is second on the team with four goals, which he's scored in seven games. Junior defender
Jordi Lluch has set up the most goals on the team with four assists, which is also tied for the conference lead.
Avelar, who made five saves in his shutout victory over Liberty, is 2-1 on the year with a 1.79 goals against average. In 2013 Avelar was 3-3 in league games with two recorded shutouts so he's now 4-3 in Big South Contests in his career.
This will mark the 8
th meeting all-time between Winthrop and Longwood. Winthrop leads the series 6-1 but Longwood captured the first win against the Eagles last season, 2-1 in Farmville, VA. There have only been two meetings as Big South members with each team winning at home. The Lancers started the transition to the NCAA Div. 1 level in 2003 and competed as a full D1 member in 2007. The first two meetings in the series came prior to the transition.
The Lancers enter the game with a 1-5-1 mark, having lost three straight. This will be the conference opener for Longwood, which posted a 6-3-1 record in league games in 2013. Offensively the Lancers are averaging 0.86 goals per game while allowing 2.0 goals per game.
Junior Zach Crandall leads the team with two goals while Dan Campos, Mike Durr, Vaughn Fowler and Jonathan Kukapa each have one.
Sophomore Carlos Canas has seen almost every minute in goal for the Lancers this season and is likely to be in net Saturday evening. He has a goals against average of 1.98 and is 1-5-1.
This contest wraps-up a six-game home stand by the Eagles as they hope to cap it off with a fifth straight win. The Eagles haven't won five straight at Eagle Field in the same season since 2008.
