ROCK HILL, SC—Fresh off a win this past Tuesday, the Winthrop men's soccer team has some momentum as it heads north for its Big South Conference opener at Liberty, Saturday afternoon.

MATCH SNAPSHOT
Winthrop (2-5-0) vs. Liberty (4-4)
Saturday, Sept. 26 | 12 p.m. | Osborne Stadium (Lynchburg, VA)
Live Stats / Live Video

LAST MATCH
Winthrop ended a five-game losing streak with a 2-0 victory over Appalachian State, its first shutout of the season. Sophomore Charles Coulson netted both goals as he tallied the first just 22 seconds in and then provided insurance in the 87^th minute. He came close to getting three or four goals on the night on a couple of occasions. Defensively the Eagles were solid as they held the Mountaineers to just two shots on goal as Fabian Broich made the save on the only opportunity he was tested all night.

WHO TO WATCH
Fabian Broich and the backline for the Eagles. This group is coming off a shutout and allowing minimal scoring opportunities in the last game after allowing eight goals in two games. It's been since Sept. 19 and Sept. 25 when the Eagles last had back-to-back shutouts. Junior Max Hasenstab is expected to return after missing Tuesday's game and he has two goals in six starts. Liberty's Sachem Wilson leads the Flames with three goals and an assist. Keep an eye on Jordi Lluch, who has six goals in seven games and ranks ninth nationally in goals and 11^th in goals per game.   

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
The Eagles will hopefully be getting a couple of players back from injury in time for the league opener against the Flames as Max Hasenstab and James Skonicki hope to return to action. Jordi Lluch had scored a goal in three straight games before Tuesday's contest against Appalachian State. He nearly extended the streak to four games with a header in the first half that just sailed over the crossbar. He will look to start a new streak as he aims for Winthrop's single-season point record by a defender. The next shutout recorded by the Eagles this season will be the 100^th under head coach Rich Posipanko. This game features two of the top three winningest coaches in the Big South Conference as Posipanko is 1^st with 265 wins and Jeff Alder for Liberty has 142. Winthrop is 19-11-1 all-time in Big South openers (16-9-1 under Posipanko) and has won two of the last three.

ABOUT OPPONENT
Liberty is 4-4 and coming off a 1-0 loss at East Tennessee State on a penalty kick in the 80^th minute. The Flames had 10 corners and tested ETSU goalie Jonny Sutherland six times forcing two saves. Prior to the loss the Flames had won three straight with two shutouts. Liberty has earned wins at home over Bluefield College and VMI while falling to North Carolina State and Marshall.in double-overtime.

SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 38^th meeting all-time between the two programs with Liberty leading the series 21-13-3. Winthrop has won the last two meetings, both coming in 2014. Winthrop hosted Liberty in its 2014 Big South Conference opener and held on for a 2-0 victory. This series has gone to overtime in four of the last six meetings and all-time there have been 24 games decided by a goal or less (3 ties). The Eagles are just 4-8 in games played in Lynchburg having lost their last regular season meeting there in 2013 (3-2 in double-overtime). In 12 meetings in Lynchburg the Eagles have never scored more than two goals against the Flames and have been shut out three times. Rich Posipanko is 10-10-1 in games against Liberty with current head coach Jeff Alder at the helm.