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Soccer For
A Cure Classic All-Tournament Team |
COASTAL CAROLINA 11/3/09, HOME, 7:00 PM
PRE-GAME NOTES: Probably the biggest soccer rivalry in the BSC. Over the past 8 out of 10 years the conference championship has gone through either Winthrop or Coastal. Many times this game has decided the #1 seed and this year's result will once again have a major factor on who wins the regular season title. I am at a loss for words concerning our play over the past week. Even though we lost to two good teams in Elon and Liberty, we played so poorly and never gave ourselves a chance to win. This past Sunday morning we came back from Liberty and had one of our best and sharpest training sessions of the year. I just can't explain what happened over the past several days. Last year we won the regular season and tournament championship on Coastal's field. I am sure they will be looking to avenge those two games. Coastal comes into the game at 6-2-6 and 3-0-3 in the BSC.
POST-GAME NOTES: Coastal Carolina 3, Winthrop 1. Well I was pleased with our second half and had the better of the play. Hopefully we will be able to use this and take into the BSC Tournament. We are taking three days off to rest up and heal. This was our last game, so we have 8 days until we play again in the Big South Tournament.
RECORD: 10-4-2 - Big South: 4-1-2 - Home: 5-0-1 - Away: 3-4-1 - Neutral: 2-0-0
PLAYERS OF THE MATCH: Stephen Nsereko and Daniel DiBiagio
***
LIBERTY 10/31/09, AWAY, 12:00 PM
PRE-GAME NOTES: Liberty enters the game at 7-3-3 and 1-1-2 in the conference.
POST-GAME NOTES: Liberty 3, Winthrop 0. We have now given up 7 goals in our last two games and scored none. We have not competed. We have three days before the Coastal game to try and get things straight. I thought we were very bad today as a team and individually. We made three mistakes that cost us, but in reality it could have been worse. Very frustrated by our performance the past two games and very embarrassed for the program. This team has over achieved this entire season and has now under achieved the past two games.
RECORD: 10-4-2 - Big South: 4-1-2 - Home: 5-0-1 - Away: 3-4-1 - Neutral: 2-0-0
PLAYERS OF THE MATCH: NONE
***
ELON 10/27/09, AWAY, 7:00 PM
PRE-GAME NOTES: .Elon comes into the game at 6-6-2 and 3-2-0 in the SoCon. Coach Powell is one of the better young coaches in the nation and has built Elon into one of the top teams in the region. As with the C of C game, this will be a welcomed break from conference play for both teams. We would hope to continue our improvement and come out injury free in this game. We have two very important conference games remaining which will decide the regular season champion and #1 seed for the tournament. We are in a position where we can control our own outcome.
POST-GAME NOTES: Elon 4, Winthrop 0. This was our worst loss in five years or so. We were certainly not ready to play and compete tonight. We did not adapt to the weather conditions. It was very difficult conditions to play in, but certainly not an excuse. Even the referees made the comment how poorly we played compared to past games they saw. In addition we had too many giveaways to win the game against a very good Elon team. We must now regroup and and finish out our remaining two conference games strong and win the regular season championship.
RECORD: 10-3-2 - Big South: 4-0-2 - Home: 5-0-1 - Away: 3-3-1 - Neutral: 2-0-0
PLAYERS OF THE MATCH: None
***
UNC ASHEVILLE 10/24/09,HOME, 7:00 PM
PRE-GAME NOTES: UNC Asheville enters the game at 6-6-2 and 2-1-1 in Big South Conference play. They have had a full week off coming into this game. Coach Cornish may be the best coach in the Conference and always gets the most out of his team. They have always been a fairly direct team, but very disciplined. Very few games with the Bulldogs over the years have been nothing other than one goal games. This should be another close one and a real battle from the start.
POST-GAME NOTES: UNC Asheville 1, Winthrop 3. This was a good win for us tonight. I was pleased with our overall play. UNCA is always a very difficult team to play against. They keep pressure on you the entire game in your defending third and are always well coached and organized. I thought our final ball and our finishing was lacking. We had numerous chances to put the game away. To be honest, we dodged a few bullets tonight as well, which could have changed the game.
RECORD: 10-2-2 - Big South: 4-0-2 - Home: 5-0-1 - Away: 2-2-1 - Neutral: 2-0-0
PLAYERS OF THE MATCH: Michael Luk, Cameron Alksnis, Miquel Casajuana, Stephen Nsereko, Adam Shonicki, Matt Lacey, Matt Skonicki
***
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 10/20/09, AWAY, 6:00 PM
PRE-GAME NOTES: College of Charleston comes into the game at 7-7-0. They have had some very close losses lately after being nationally ranked earlier in the season. This is still a very good team that will challenge for a SOCON Championship. This is a welcomed game for both teams I am sure, since it is an out of conference game in the middle of conference play. The last two years we have been fortunate enough to win both games by a goal. They are always a well coached team and very organized. Both programs have been very similar over the past several years. We will also enjoy having some school time off, since we are on Fall Break.
POST-GAME NOTES: College of Charleston 0, Winthrop 1. I think this was a welcomed game for both teams. It was not pretty and we were under pressure the last 25 minnutes, but were able to defend well. We hit the crossbar twice and had chances to end the game. We were able to pick up a win tonight without Matt Skonicki. One player does not decide the outcome of a game, but he brings allot to the table for us, especially starting with his defensive pressure up front and is a threat to score at any time. The College of Charleston is very well coached and organized. They are very athletic and put pressure on you for 90 minutes. This was a good win for us and now must get ready for UNC Asheville.
RECORD: 9-2-2 - Big South: 3-0-2 - Home: 4-0-1 - Away: 2-2-1 - Neutral: 2-0-0
PLAYERS OF THE MATCH: Wylie Rea, Miquel Casajuana, Stephen Nsereko, Michael Luk, Cameron Alksnis
***
RADFORD 10/17/09, HOME, 3:00 PM
PRE-GAME NOTES: I am out of town and will miss the game. Dan, Mitro and Carton will be coaching the team. Radford has been struggling at times this year, but we they put in together can be a very good team. They recently had a great 3-1 win over Va. Tech their cross town rival. They will be looking to get their first conference win. They are a very big strong team which will create many problems for us. I will be watching this one on video streaming a few hundred miles away. All the best boys.
POST-GAME NOTES: Radford 2, Winthrop 2 (2ot). Well first let me say thanks to everyone that called concerning my mom. I actually left this morning at 5:00 AM to try and get back by game time, but delays and needing a rest did not allow me to get into Rock Hill until 6:00 PM. I just talked with Coach Smith of Radford and Dan. This seemed to be a typical Big South Conference game with both teams getting after it. They both say it could have gone either way, so a draw may be a fair result for both teams. I can assure you Radford is much better than their record shows and can win anytime out. We did a good job battling back from two goals down. I understand that Matt Skonicki did not start due to a foot problem, but came on and played the remainder of the game. It would have been good to win this game today and put some distance between us and the rest of the teams in the league. Every little point is vital in Conference play. I always look forward to playing Radford and seeing Coach Smith. He is a good friend and we usually see each other several times a year when he is heading to Florida or I am going up north. We also have bragging rights for a year with the game. Some how I will put some positive spin on this game and make it sound like a win until next year when we banter with each other. Well this was the fourth game I have missed in the past three years. During my first 30 years I never missed a game and only a few training sessions. Well Dan is now 2-0-2. Maybe I should just stay away for the games. Nah, that ain't happening. Once again I would refer you to Brett Redden's story of the game at www.winthropeagles.com
RECORD: 8-2-2 - Big South: 3-0-2 - Home: 4-0-1 - Away: 2-2-1 - Neutral: 2-0-0
PLAYERS OF THE MATCH: Miquel Casajuana, Michael Luk, Enrique Miranda
***
VMI 10/11/09, AWAY, 1:00 PM
PRE-GAME NOTES: VMI comes into the game at 1-7-1. This will be their first conference game of the season. No matter what VMI's record may be they are always ready to play and always make a game of it. The last time we played at Patchin Field it was a 0-0 tie. They are a very tough team at home. As with all the conference games, you can throw the records out the window and forget about who the favorite is, because they are all close, hard fought games. Despite their record, they have had many close games. They are always well organized, play hard and have been coached well.
POST-GAME NOTES: VMI 0, Winthrop 2. This was a very difficult game for us and we new that coming in. Playing at Patchin Field has always been hard for us. I was disappointed in our finishing today and our intensity level. We had many opportunities to put the game away. Credit to VMI. They worked extremely hard and were well organized. At times we were very good, while at other times we played very poor and did not make the best decisions. It is very encouraging to get two shutouts in a row. We now have a break for a week before playing Radford. This is certainly needed rest for us right now.
RECORD: 8-2-1 - Big South: 3-0-1 - Home: 4-0-0 - Away: 2-2-1 - Neutral: 2-0-0
PLAYERS OF THE MATCH: Miquel Casajuana, Michael Luk, Magnus Leung, Wylie Rea, Matt Skonicki, Enrique Miranda
***
10/7/09 HIGH POINT, AWAY, 7:00 PM
PRE-GAME NOTES: High Point comes into the game at 6-3-0 and 2-0-0 in Big South play. The Panthers have been making upward progress each year and are now in a position to contend for a Conference Championship. I was very impressed with them when I saw them play. They are very disciplined, and play a very controlled style of play. Their defense is very solid and they make very few mistakes. Coach Fonder has built this program from the ground up over the past three years, and they will certainly be a contender for years to come. This should again be a very typical BSC game, close.
POST-GAME NOTES: High Point 0, Winthrop 1. Well I couldn't be more pleased with the team tonight. We worked extremely hard and got a road conference game. I was as pleased to get our first shutout of the season as well. With that said, I am not sure the best team won tonight. As I said we worked hard and were very lucky. High Point is one of the top teams we have played this season. The fact that we still have three starters out, a whole team effort was needed to get a result tonight. I thought everyone that played in the game tonight, let everything they had on the field. We hope to get through the VMI game on Sunday in good shape, then we will have a week off to heal up. This was a very good college game to watch. High Point is one of the up and coming programs in the BSC and region. They will be one of a hand full of teams in the mix for a championship in November.
RECORD: 7-2-1 - Big South: 2-0-1 - Home: 4-0-0 - Away: 1-2-1 - Neutral: 2-0-0
PLAYERS OF THE MATCH: Daniel DiBiagio, Enrique Miranda, Michael Luk, Stephen Nsereko, Wylie Rea
***
10/3/09 GARDNER-WEBB, AWAY, 5:00 PM
PRE-GAME NOTES: Gardner-Webb enters the game at 5-2-0 and 2-1-0 in Big South Play. I had the opportunity to see them play last night against High Point in a 5-0 loss. You would have never know the game was close from the looking at the score. They just missed some good opportunities. They are a very good team. Gardner-Webb has always been a very competitive game over the years for us and this time will be no different. Since they have entered the league a few years ago, the game also takes on more meaning. We have have been lucky to have the better of the games over the years, but they have always been hard fought and close on the scoreboard. They are a very physical team and play hard. They were also very organized and are always well coached. Gardner-Webb has continued to get better every year. Three years ago they advanced to the second round of the NCAA College Cup. They also opened up this season with a win over Clemson. Since the game is only about an hour and and 15 minutes away we hope we will have some fans make the trip over to Boiling Springs.
POST-GAME NOTES: Gardner-Webb 2, Winthrop 2, (2ot) I was unable to be at the game because of the flu. First game missed in 31 years due to sickness. Coach Ridenhour was also out the past few days, but is further along with his recovery and was able to to drive over himself. Congrats to the staff for getting a result on the road against a good GWU team. Considering everything that has happened the past few days with sickness and injuries, and also playing on the road, I suppose this was a decent result. We will now try and heal up on short notice and travel to play High Point. Since I was not at the game, refer to Brett Redden's post game release at: www.winthropeagles.com
RECORD: 6-2-1 - Big South: 1-0-1 - Home: 4-0-0 - Away: 0-2-1 - Neutral: 2-0-0
PLAYERS OF THE MATCH: Michael Luk, Cameron Alksnis, Matt Skonicki, Wylie Rea
***
9/29/09 PRESBYTERIAN, HOME, 7:00 PM
PRE-GAME NOTES: Presbyterian enters the game at 1-5-0. Every game they have played has benn very close against teams like Furman, George Mason and Davidson. Last years game was very close and we can expect the same this year. They play extremely hard and have been competitive in every game.
POST-GAME NOTES: Presbyterian 1, Winthrop 3. We played a very good first half and had many opportunities to put the game away. I was pleased with our overall work rate in that half. We played very good team defense starting with our forwards on back. Very good pressure all over the field. The second half we did not play nearly as hard and did not pressure the ball as much and them them back in the game some. They are a difficult team to play against because they work so hard and play 20 plus players, so they are always coming at you. Overall we continue to improve. Our team defense is getting better. We have both Lacey and Horn out with injuries and we need them back. We are off tomorrow and then get ready for a very good Gardner-Webb team.
RECORD: 6-2-0 - Big South: 1-0-0 - Home: 4-0-0 - Away: 0-2-0 - Neutral: 2-0-0
PLAYERS OF THE MATCH: Michael Luk, Miquel Casajuana, Matt Skonicki, Stephaen Nsereko, Daniel DiBiagio
***
9/25/09 LIBERTY, AWAY, 7:00 PM
POSTPONED UNTIL SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31 at 12:00 NOON
PRE-GAME NOTES: This game will be a rematch of last season's BSC Semi-Final game which we felt fortunate to win in a shootout and advance to another championship. Liberty enters the game at 4-1-1 after beating Howard and having a tie against Radford this past week. Both teams are ranked in the Top 5 in the Nation in scoring and have the two top scorers in the Conference in Amoo and Skonicki. Both are also raked in the Top 10 in the Nation. As everyone knows we have found it hard over the years to get a result at Liberty. We look forward to changing that this year. We have a tremendous amount of respect for Liberty in the way they compete and play. They are well coached and organized and have special players that can make things happen. This will be an exciting college game.
POST-GAME NOTES:
RECORD: 5-2-0 - Big South: 0-0-0 - Home: 3-0-0 - Away: 0-2-0 - Neutral: 2-0-0
PLAYERS OF THE MATCH:
***
9/18/09 APPALACHIAN, @ CHARLOTTE, 2:30 PM
9/20/09 CHARLOTTE, AWAY, 7:00 PM
NIKE/CHARLOTTE CLASSIC
PRE-GAME NOTES: We will be playing to good teams this weekend. Appalachian State enters the game at 2-2-1 and coming off a good weekend beating Alabama A&M and getting a 1-1 ties vs West Virginia. They are always a big strong, well coached team. They have always been a difficult game for us. Charlotte is off to a good start as well. They are 2-1-1 and ranked #1 in the Mid-Atlantic. We will once again get to see them play on Friday, before we play on Sunday. We are getting closer to getting a line-up that we think will help us be successful. This weekend will be a great test, since there are four very good teams.
POST-GAME NOTES: App. St. 2, Winthrop 3. Well we did it again, but it ain't going to last forever. We gave a own goal up in the first seven minutes and gifted them another in the first 15 minutes. We had most of the play throughout but continue to make major mistakes defensively. We had to battle back from being down 2-0, so I am pleased with the intensity and work ethic needed to do that. If we continue to give up very soft goals it is going to catch up with us at some point. We cannot continue to keep out scoring teams. If we eliminate the goals we gave them today , we actually played a good solid game. That is a big if right now, but something that we will continue to work hard on.
POST-GAME NOTES: Charlotte 4, Winthrop 2. Once again we made defensive mistakes that put us in a hole very early in the game. Having said that, Charlotte was as good as a team gets in the first 15 minutes of the game. Their intensity and work rate was extremely high and we needed to weather that storm which we were not able to do. However, I was pleased that we were able to fight back and make it a 3-2 game with about 10 minutes left. However, they finished the game off with the fourth goal. I hope we all learn from this game tonight that we must get better defensively and make better decisions. This must me done both individually and collectively. We must also have much better communication then we are now doing. All the credit to Charlotte, I thought they were the best team we played this season and they should be ranked in the top 25 next week. We have a week to sort these mistakes out before heading to Liberty for our conference opener.
RECORD: 5-2-0 - Big South: 0-0-0 - Home: 3-0-0 - Away: 0-2-0 - Neutral: 2-0-0
PLAYERS OF THE MATCH: APP. ST.: Matt Horn, Stephen Nsereko, Michael Luk
PLAYERS OF THE MATCH: CHARLOTTE: Matt Skonicki, Michael Luk, Matt Lacey, Stephen Nsereko
***
9/11/09 BREVARD, HOME, 7:30 PM
9/13/09 IPFW, HOME, 12:00 NOON PM
WINGATE CLASSIC
PRE-GAME NOTES: Our first game will be against Brevard. This game came about, when a team dropped from the Wingate Classic recently. We scrambled to find another Division I opponent but were unable to find one. Schedules, especially tournament schedules are done 2-3 years in advance. Coach Mascaro at Brevard is a good friend of mine and was willing to help us out. I really don't know if it is a favor or not. Last season we played Brevard and were very fortunate to win the game. They were coached very well and played well enough to get a result. This again will be a difficult game. They play two games before playing us. We are off the entire week. Our second game is against IPFW. They play in the Summit League and return 10 starters from last season. We continue to play many experienced and veteran teams. This will be a big strong tough mid-western team. They are 1-0-0 having beat Western Michigan. They play Detroit and Huntington before coming to Rock Hill. We will get to see them play the first game vs Gardner-Webb.
POST-GAME NOTES: Brevard 1, Winthrop 4. I thought we played fairly well at times. However we continue to make very poor decisions and or mistakes, especially with our back four and goalkeeping. I feel we have good enough players, but we still need a good deal of work. It has to happen soon as our schedule continues to get more difficult. We are way to inconsistent right now to to be considered a good team defensively. It is frustrating to deal with when you have seen them perform at a high level and know they can do it. I just expected to be further along at this point. I still think we will get there. We will have a short session tomorrow and get ready for IPFW. Big, strong team. It will be a difficult team to play against.
POST-GAME NOTES: IPFW 3, Winthrop 5, For the first 20-25 minutes of the game we played some of our best soccer of the year. The start of the second half was also pretty good. We can not continue to give up goals and expect to win games. We have given up 10 goals this season and are 4-1-0. It can't continue and be successful at the same time. We continue to make mistakes individual and collectively that lead to goals. It is hard to believe, but very few of the goals against have been created. Most were directly off our mistakes. Whatever we had the first half and at the beginning of the second half, we must bottle it. I still think we will get it all sorted out, but we are certainly behind schedule. I don't want to sound all negative, because there were some good things, but I want them to understand what it takes to be a championship team and we don't have it right now. We must palyer harder and smarter, until we a a sound defensive unit.
RECORD: 4-1-0 - Big South: 0-0-0 - Home: 3-0-0 - Away: 0-1-0 - Neutral: 1-0-0
PLAYERS OF THE MATCH: BREVARD: Matt Skonicki, Daniel DiBiagiao, Miquel Casajuana, Andrew Murphy
PLAYERS OF THE MATCH: IPFW: Matt Skonicki, Stephen Nsereko
***
9/4/09 JACKSONVILLE, @GWU, 4:30 PM
9/5/09 COVENANT, HOME, 7:00 PM
SOCCER FOR THE CURE
CLASSIC
PRE-GAME NOTES: Jacksonville is the fifth straight veteran team we face to open the season. They were the pre-season pick to win the Atlantic Sun Conference. Their first game on September 1 was cancelled vs Florida Atlantic due to heavy rains, so this will be their opener. They return nine starters off a team that advanced to the second round of the NCAA College Cup last season. As for Covenant we know very little about them, but we will get to see them play against Gardner-Webb. When a team dropped out of the Soccer For The Cure Claasic, Covenant filled in. They also offered to play at Winthrop on the second day.
POST-GAME NOTES: Jacksonville 1, Winthrop 3. I thought we played very poorly and with no emotion or passion the first half. The second half was totally different. We had a better work rate and looked like a good team. I thought we continued our improvement. We had allot of players contribute tonight which was a good thing. We must still do a better job sorting out mistakes defensively. We probably had 6 quality chances which I feel we will finish in the near future. I feel we are slowly getting to where we want to be. As our freshmen get more games under their belt, our play we become more consistent. We are also no closer to having a set lineup, which may also be a good thing.
POST-GAME NOTES: Covenant 2, Winthrop 3. By far and away our worst performance, effort, work rate intensity, etc. not only this young season, but the last five years. All the credit to Covenant. They out worked us, played with more intensity and wanted to win the game more than we did. They had everything to do with how poorly we played. Hats off to their team and coaching staff. We were very fortunate to win on our home field tonight. Very frustrating tonight. We took some giant steps backwards tonight. I am very curious to see how we come back from this type of performance.
RECORD: 2-1-0 - Big South: 0-0-0 - Home: 1-0-0 - Away: 0-1-0 - Neutral: 1-0-0
PLAYERS OF THE MATCH: JACKSONVILLE: Matt Skonicki, Daniel DiBiagiao, Matt Horn, Matt Lacey, Stephen Nsereko
PLAYERS OF THE MATCH: COVENANT: Matt Skonicki
***
9/1/09 NC STATE, AWAY, 7:00 PM
PRE-GAME NOTES: This is going to be a difficult test for a young team, but one we are looking forward to. NC State is another veteran team. This will once again give us another good measure of where we are early in the season. You will find NC State to be very athletic with good team speed. This is suppose to be one of their better teams over the past several years. They were picked to finish fourth in the ACC this year. Their most recent result is a 3-1 pre-season game vs a good UNC Greensboro team. I think the keys to the game will be our ability to minimize our mistakes in the final third and making sure we have good concentration and decision making for 90 minutes. That is assuming our work rate is high as well.
POST-GAME NOTES: NC State 3, Winthrop 1. This was a fairly even game with the exception of making some costly mistakes. I was please with our intensity and work rate, but certainly not pleased about the loss. I feel we continue to make the improvements needed to become a good team. I would hope after the weekend we will have a starting lineup and some substitution patterns down. Once we sort out our mistakes at the defending end of the field we will be a good team. When playing 4 and 5 freshmen, we will take some hits early and tonight was a good example. It was a very good atmosphere and field, looked to be 2,000 plus fans.
RECORD: 0-1-0 - Big South: 0-0-0 - Home: 0-0-0 - Away: 0-1-0 - Neutral: 0-0-0
PLAYERS OF THE MATCH: Daniel DiBiagiao, Enrique Miranda, Matt Lacey, Miquel Casajuana
***
8/28/09 DAVIDSON (EXB.), HOME, 7:00 PM
PRE-GAME NOTES: This will be our last pre-season game before we open up at NC State. We hope to continue our improvement from the UNC Wilmington game. We are still far away from finding a consistent starting lineup. I said from day one that it would take 5-6 games before we find the right combination, and that still appears to be our time table. As for Davidson, they are always a team that is organized and work extremely hard. They return nine starters and most of their goal scoring from last year. We have been fortunate to play three teams in pre-season that are all experienced teams with most starters back. We are looking to continue to improve, keep our intensity level high and our work rate and concentration level high while trying to better execute in our final third of the field and our final pass.
POST-GAME NOTES: Davidson 2, Winthrop 4. We have been able to make allot of improvement from our first pre-season game until our game tonight. In all fairness this game was treated more like a regular season game and did not substitute as freely. My concerns are, even though being young, we are still making too many mental errors. In tonight's game our wall just splits on a free kick and deflects off one of our players for a goal. Another time we allow a player to run behind our defense and our goalkeeper takes him down for a penalty. These are concentration errors. Our intensity, and work rate has been the best yet, but not nearly where it needs to be for a championship team. We are very young in some spots and could end up having 5 freshmen on the field at any time. This is where we need our leadership, which in my opinion has not been where it needs to be yet as well. Every team we played in pre-season was a veteran team, so it has been a good measure of where we are. Our major goal is still to continue to improve each day, each game and play more consistent. So far we have been moving in that direction. We now get ready to play NC State on Tuesday night.
RECORD: 0-0-0 - Big South: 0-0-0 - Home: 0-0-0 - Away: 0-0-0 - Neutral: 0-0-0
PLAYERS OF THE MATCH: Daniel DiBiagio, Tomas Brennan, Adam Skonicki
***
8/23/09 UNC WILMINGTON (EXB.), HOME, 7:00 PM
PRE-GAME NOTES: UNCW returns 11 starters off a CAA regular season championship team. They recently played Francis Marion in an exb. which they won 3-0. This game will be treated more like a regular season game. We will not substitute as freely and will continue to try and find our best starting 11 and combination of players. Our effort, intensity, and concentration levels will all need to be much higher to compete. We have taken a day and a half off, so hopefully our energy level will be higher and some of the injured players will be ready to go.
POST-GAME NOTES: UNCW 2, Winthrop 1. There was good improvement in this game in terms of intensity and work rate and wanting to complete. It was more of a regular season game. Both teams had moments where they had the better of it. Overall a fairly even game. Probably fitting to have finished 1-1. They scored in the 87th minute off a pass from our defender and some poor goalkeeping. We did make progress in this game and that is our goal. We want to be playing our best in November. We will take off Monday and then start preparing for Davidson. We want to keep our improvement moving in the right direction now. If and once we clean up these defensive mistakes and our goalkeeping becomes more consistent, I think we will have the ability to be a good team. Some of our younger players are getting better and gaining confidence.
RECORD: 0-0-0 - Big South: 0-0-0 - Home: 0-0-0 - Away: 0-0-0 - Neutral: 0-0-0
PLAYERS OF THE MATCH: Daniel DiBiagio, Magnus Leung
***
8/20/09 WOFFORD COLLEGE (EXB.), HOME, 7:00 PM
PRE-GAME NOTES: This is our first exb. of the pre-season and we are far from being ready to open the season. We will play a lot of players and try to find the best combinations for working on a starting lineup. We are looking for a good effort and work rate with a high intensity level. At the request of Wofford, we will be playing three 30 minute periods. Wofford has made major strides over the past few season under their new coach Ralph Polson. They return nine starters off a team that was inconsistent at times. They had some quality results with wins over Furman and College of Charleston and played another two close 1-0 games against Clemson and James Madison. We will be focused on our defensive effort tonight. We need to find consistency with our goalkeeping and we are very inexperienced defensively. In training we give up way too many soft goals and and are not hard enough as players. We need to be more focused and have the effort and pride that this program was built on. These are some of the things we will be looking for.
POST-GAME NOTES: Wofford 2, Winthrop 1. We played three 30 periods tonight. We gave up two goals off free kicks, so I wasn't please about that. We lacked intensity and a good work ethic. Wofford just worked harder than we did. We had the opportunity to play everyone. I think we saw more guys that can't do it. then can. If we expect to reach our goals we will need to make up allot of ground. We now have a starting point on which to build. We play UNC Wilmington on Sunday which will be a higher level. We will need more of everything to compete. We will take some time off and see if we can get healthy.
RECORD: 0-0-0 - Big South: 0-0-0 - Home: 0-0-0 - Away: 0-0-0 - Neutral: 0-0-0
PLAYERS OF THE MATCH: Daniel DiBiagio