ROCK HILL, SC—Winthrop will open the 2014 season on Friday, Aug. 29 in Boiling Springs, NC against Wofford College at 4 p.m. in the opening game of the Big South/SoCON Challenge.
After facing Wofford College on Friday, Winthrop will take on Georgia Southern on Sunday, Aug. 31 at 1 p.m.
The Eagles are coming off an 11-win season and hope to build on that as they return eight starters. It is the second straight season that Winthrop opens its season against Wofford and Georgia Southern. In 2013, Winthrop opened the season with a 2-1 victory over Georgia Southern and then snuck by the Terriers 2-1.
Winthrop, which has won four straight season openers, is led by sophomore
Max Hasenstab, who tied for the team lead in points in 2013 with nine goals and five assists and earned Big South Conference Freshman of the Year honors. A large portion of the returning starters are defensive as all four fullbacks, defensive midfielder
Magnus Thorsson and goalkeeper
Guilherme Avelar. Juniors
Jordi Lluch and
Kyle Kennedy along with senior
Cody Winter and sophomore
Pietro Bottari return as the mainstay in the back from 2013. This group had some injuries throughout last season but for the most part was together to help the team record seven shutouts.
The game marks the start of the 40
th Anniversary celebration for the Winthrop men's soccer program as it looks to add to its 400 wins all-time during the 2014 season.
The Terriers return nine starters from a team that was 11-7-1 overall last season and finished 5-1 in the Southern Conference. They are led by junior Connor Davis, who was recently ranked 69
th among TopDrawerSoccer.com's National Top 100 players at the NCAA Division I level. Davis led Wofford with 11 goals and five assists in 2013 as he finished 22
nd nationally in scoring as the team finished third nationally in scoring at 2.21 goals per game.
Winthrop is 22-7-2 all-time against the Terriers, including victories in the last three meetings and five of the last six.
Georgia Southern is coming off a 9-10 record in 2013 with a 2-4 mark in the Southern Conference. The Eagles moved conferences and will compete in the Sun Belt in 2014. Like Winthrop, GSU lost a couple of its top scorers but return junior forward Eric Dinka (3g, 2a) and sophomore forward Jeremy Rector (3g, 1a).
The Eagles are 9-5-2 all-time against Georgia Southern and has won two straight.
