ROCK HILL, SC—Winthrop men's soccer heads up I-85 Saturday evening to take on High Point in its Big South Conference opener at Vert Stadium.
 
GAME SNAPSHOT AT HIGH POINT
WHO: Winthrop (2-5, 0-0 Big South) at High Point (4-3-0, 0-0 Big South)
WHEN: Sept. 28, 2019 / 7 p.m.
WHERE: High Point, NC (Vert Stadium)
BROADCAST: NONE
LIVE STATS: Sidearm
FOLLOW ON TWITTER: @Winthropsoccer
TICKETS: $5 (all ages)

SERIES HISTORY VERSUS HIGH POINT
Eagles and Panthers meet for the 28^th time as the Eagles hold a 15-9-3 lead in the all-time series. High Point has won three straight in the series, including a 1-0 win at Eagle Field last season. The Panthers have outscored the Eagles 5-0 in the last two meetings. The series for Big South head-to-head matchups is even at 9-9-2. In four of the last six meetings the game has gone into double-overtime. Winthrop has lost six straight meetings with High Point at Eagle Field with five of the six being one goal games. 
 
LAST TIME THESE TEAMS MET
The Eagles and Panthers squared off on Eagle Field in Rock Hill last season. It was a scoreless game for most of the first half before High Point drew first blood in the 44^th minute. The goal came off a free kick as Ilias Kosmidis headed home a corner kick from Ryan Inman. The Eagles applied a lot of pressure offensively in the second half, but were unable to equalize. Winthrop had seven second half corners. It was a physical match as the team's combined for 37 fouls.
 
BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE OPENERS
Winthrop has lost its last three league opening contests and are 20-14-1 in conference openers. Two of the last three losses have come by the score of 4-3. This marks just the second league opener on the road for the Eagles over the last seven seasons.
 
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
While the Eagles competed midweek, the Panthers enter the contest on a seven-day gap between games heading into the league opener for both teams. In their last contest the Panthers fell 2-0 at home to East Tennessee State and are 2-1 at home this season. High Point has wins over William & Mary, at Elon and Wofford. Offensively the Panthers are averaging 0.57 goals per game but only allowing 0.86 goals per game (Top 50 in the country). Siggy Benonysson leads the team with two goals while Alex Abril and Jordan Lonchar have also scored goals this season. Meyer Keegan has played every minute this season in goal and has 27 saves, an .818 save percentage and 0.86 goals against average. In the preseason poll, High Point received 5-of-9 first-place votes and are the favorites to win the Big South in 2019.
 
A GLANCE AT THE EAGLES
Not only did the Eagles end their scoreless streak on Wednesday against the College of Charleston, but they also ended the losing streak. Freshman Cameron Thayer scored two goals, including the golden goal in the 103^rd minute. Thayer opened the scoring in the 34^th minute just a few minutes after entering the game as a sub. It was the second game this season the Eagles scored three goals and the way the offense was generating opportunities it could have been more. Thayer now has the team lead in goals and is second in points with five while Jordan Walshaw leads the team with six points (1 goal, 4 assists). Leif Estevez picked up his first assists of the season as he assisted on the opening goal and the game-winner.
 
10^th YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF 2009 BIG SOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP
This season the Eagles celebrate the 10^th anniversary of the 2009 Big South Conference Championship team.
The Eagles were coming off a championship in 2008 as it lost some of the greatest players in the history of the program. The Eagles were still loaded with talent and after dropping the opener 3-1 at North Carolina State, they won five in a row. Heading into the Big South Tournament the Eagles were struggling, having lost three straight (outscored 10-1). Winthrop, seeded fourth, defeated Gardner-Webb in penalties to advance to the semifinals and then advanced to the championship after defeating top-seeded Coastal Carolina 4-2 in penalties. The Eagles went on to defeat Liberty 2-1 in the championship game, advancing to the NCAA Tournament for a second straight season. Winthrop went on to lose 3-2 at 20^th-ranked Duke in the opening round of the NCAA College Cup.

BIG SOUTH PRESEASON POLL
The Eagles were voted 7^th in the 2019 Big South Conference preseason poll. Winthrop returns nine players that started at least eight games from a team that was 3-5 in the league last year. The Eagles finished in 7^th last season, a point out of tying Longwood and USC Upstate for 6^th. Defending regular-season champion High Point is the preseason favorite while Radford and Campbell tied for 2^nd in the poll.
 
WHAT'S AHEAD
Eagles will step away from league play again, but remain on the road as they head to Macon, GA to take on Mercer, Tuesday Oct. 1 at 7 pm.
 
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
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