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ROCK HILL, SC—Winthrop men's soccer will see its first action this Saturday since Oct. 4 as it travels to Radford, VA to take on the league-leading Highlanders at 7 p.m. in Patrick D. Cupp Memorial Stadium. The game will air on the Big South Network.
The Eagles home contest against High Point scheduled for last Saturday was washed out due to Hurricane Matthew and rescheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 19 which means it will be 10 days between games. Winthrop was last in action at Campbell on Oct. 4 as the Eagles fell 4-1 on the road after leading 1-0 early on.
Entering the contest with the Highlanders, Winthrop is 3-7-1 on the year and 0-3 in the Big South. Radford has an unbeaten streak of four games and is 9-2-1 on the year as well as a perfect 3-0 start to league play.
These two teams have met 35 times throughout the years and the Eagles hold a slight edge in the series at 16-15-4, having won the previous meeting 1-0 in Rock Hill last season. Winthrop is 4-0-1 against the Highlanders in the last five meetings with the lone tie coming in the 2014 Big South Tournament semifinals as Radford advanced in penalties. The Eagles are 5-9-2 all-time on the road at Radford.
The Eagle offense is led by junior
Rasmus Arousell, who has four goals and two assists on the year. Arousell scored the first goal of the game at Campbell and nearly added a second minutes later but his shot from close range hit the post. Senior
James Skonicki is second on the team with six points (3 goals).
Radford is ranked 27
th nationally by College Soccer News and 28
th in the NSCAA Top 25 Poll as well as holding a ranking of 9
th in the South Region. The Highlanders feature the league's fifth ranked offense at 1.58 goals per game, but are first (28
th nationally) in goals against average (0.73).
The offense is led by Sivert Daehlie with four goals and an assist (nine points) but the team has a balanced attack that has seen seven different players score at least two goals and a total of nine different goal scorers on the season. The defense is anchored by center back Jo Vetle Rimstad and goalkeeper Altor Pouseu Blanco, both All-Big South selections in 2015. Pouseu Blanco has been in goal 11 games and holds a 9-1-1 record with a 0.70 goals against average and has recorded five shutouts.
