Rock Hill, S.C.— Winthrop men's soccer opens the 2022 season on the road as it travels to Macon, Ga. to take on Mercer Thursday night.
 

Winthrop Men's Soccer Game Information
Matchup	Winthrop (0-0-0, 0-0-0 Big South) at Mercer (0-0-0, 0-0-0 Southern)
Date/Time	Thursday, Aug. 25 | 7 p.m.
Location	Macon, Ga. | Betts Stadium
Live Statistics	Statbroadcast
Live Stream	None
Social	Twitter - @Winthropsoccer / @WUEagles | Instagram - winthropuniversitysoccer | #ROCKtheHILL | #EverStand

SEASON OPENERS
Winthrop has won eight of its last 11 season openers and are 25-21 all-time. Last year the Eagles earned a 4-3 victory in overtime at Stetson to start the year. Winthrop led 2-1 in the second half when Stetson scored goals in the 82^nd minute and 88^th minute to take a 3-2 lead. The Eagles tied the game four seconds later and eventually won in the 99^th minute. This is the third straight season and fifth out of the last six the Eagles have opened the season on the road.
 
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS MERCER
Winthrop earned a 3-1 win over the Bears in 2021 in Rock Hill, S.C. as the two teams meet for the 11^th time. The win gave the Eagles a 5-4-1 edge in the all-time series record. Eagles are 2-2-1 all-time in Macon, Ga. against the Bears. The last win on the road in the series came on Sept. 13, 2013 in a 2-1 win.
 
FOOT NOTES

• Eagles return five starters from the 2021 squad that advanced to the Big South Conference Tournament semifinals
• Bryant Jimenez-Pearce is the top returning scorer from last season (5g, 3a) as the Eagles lost three of the top four in points
• Sam Jones led all goalkeepers with 12 starts in 2021 and posted a 1.94 goals against average to go along with three shutouts
• Senior Sean Green and junior Grayson Woodard scored multiple goals last season
• Green had three goals and an assist to finish fifth on the team in scoring and Woodard had two goals and an assist to finish sixth in scoring
• The Eagles finished the 2021 season ranked 23^rd in the country in scoring offense (2.06 goals per game)
• Opening the season with six straight games on the road
• This game marks the 939^th in the history of the program with 454 wins all-time
• Daniel Ridenhour is in his seventh season as the head coach of the Eagles after serving the previous 12 seasons as an associate/assistant coach
    

ROAD TRIPPIN'
The Eagles open the 2022 season with six straight games on the road starting with Mercer. Then they'll head back to the state of Georgia to take on Georgia State (Sept. 2) and then a few days later head up to play Wake Forest. The fourth game of the year will be at South Carolina followed by games at Charlotte and UNC Greensboro before finally playing at home on Sept. 20. Wake Forest, Georgia State and UNCG have appeared in preseason national polls. Five of the six opponents finished among the Top 46 in the nation in scoring and three were in the Top 30.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Winthrop remains on the road as it heads back to the Peach State to take on Georgia State on Friday, Sept. 2 at 6 p.m.
 
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
To keep up with the latest news on the Winthrop men's soccer program follow the Eagles on Twitter (@Winthropsoccer), Instagram (@winthropsoccer) and Facebook (/WinthropUniversitySoccer).