Rock Hill, S.C. – Winthrop women's soccer looks to bounce back from a midweek home loss as it hits the road to take on USC Upstate Saturday night.
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS USC UPSTATE
Winthrop and USC Upstate meet for the 9
th time. The Eagles have won three straight in the series, having outscored the Spartans 8-1 in that stretch. In the last meeting on Sept. 25, 2021 the Eagles earned a 2-0 win at home, scoring both goals in the final 6:21 of the contest. In their last trip to Spartanburg, the Eagles scored two first half goals within 25 seconds of each other which helped propel them to a 3-1 victory.
USC Upstate (7-1)
Date Site Result
9/12/08 Away W, 1-0
9/9/11 Home W, 6-0
8/23/16 Away W, 1-0
9/10/17 Home W, 2-1
10/3/18 Away L, 2-4
10/26/19 Home W, 3-0
3/7/21 Away W, 3-1
9/25/21 Home W, 2-0
FOOT NOTES
- Coming off a 3-0 loss to High Point in which the Eagles allowed two goals in the first 5:21
- This is the final road contest of the season for the Eagles, who will wrap-up the season at home on Wednesday, Oct. 26 against Charleston Southern
- Annabel Thomas scored her seventh goal of the season in the loss to Gardner-Webb and ranks
- She is the first Eagle with seven goals in a season since her older sister Allie Thomas had seven in 2017
- Thomas leads the team in scoring with 16 points, which is tied for 5th in the Big South (2nd in goals per game)
- She is the first Eagle with 16 or more points in a season since Krystyna Freda had 36 points in 2014
- Thomas is 2nd in the league in scoring at 1.23 points per game
- Katy Feskorn is second on the team in scoring at 0.69 points per game (career-high nine points)
- Emma Smith leads the team with four assists as she is tied for 10th in the league in assists per game
- Izzy Giarrizzi sits 4th in the Big South in goals against average (1.25) and 2nd in save percentage (.818)
- Giarrizzi leads the conference in saves per game at 5.54, which is 32nd nationally
- This will be the 361st game in Winthrop women's soccer program history
- Spencer Smith is in his 13th season as head coach and coached in his 200th game for the Eagles on Sept. 25, 2021 vs. USC Upstate
- Smith is currently fifth all-time in Big South history for victories (two wins behind 4th)
LOOKING BACK AT 2021
- Fourteen players and five starters return from the 2021 squad
- The top four scorer/s from a year ago are gone from a team that had 12 different players score at least one goal
- The Eagles were 3-2-2 in home games in 2021
- Smith is the top returning scorer (2g, 1a) as she came off the bench in all 15 games she appeared
- The five returning starters are highlighted by Giarrizzi and sophomore defenders Adelle Pruitt and Lily Meisten
- Pruitt and Meisten were the starting center backs in 2021
- Returning starters also include senior's Bailey Fudala and Leah Greene
- Junior Janae Massey, who missed the 2021 season and started 8-of-9 appearances in 2020, returns from injury
- Giarrizzi was 6-7-2 last season with a goals against average of 1.75 and made 80 saves
- Her 80 saves were the 9th most in a single-season in program history
- She was the first Eagle since Karly Gustafson in 2015 to record at least three shutouts in a season
- Giarrizzi was 3rd in the Big South in saves per game at 5.33, which ranks 7th in a single-season for an Eagle
- This year's squad features eight freshmen, four sophomores, nine juniors and three seniors
LOOKING AHEAD
Winthrop will host Charleston Southern on Wednesday, Oct. 26 at 6 p.m. in its regular season finale.
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