Men's Soccer Tallies 23 Shots in 2-1 Loss to Winthrop in Key Big South Conference Match
October 29, 2010 | Men's Soccer
Rock Hill, S.C. - In what always proves to be a well contested match up on the pitch, the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs outshot the Winthrop Eagles 23-17 on Thursday night, only to have the Eagles fly away with a 2-1 Big South Conference win at Terry Field in Rock Hill, S.C.
The Runnin' Bulldog offense put pressure on the Winthrop Eagles from the very start, as less than two minutes into the match, freshman Marius Hammersmark put a header on target which forced Winthrop goalkeeper Michael Flato to make the save on the very first shot of the contest.
The Hammersmark header set the tone of the first half, as both teams' offenses continued to force the issue, combining to post 17 shots in the first 45 minutes of play.
GWU broke through and got on the board in the 21st minute with some help from the Eagles defense, as freshman Stephen Maxwell played a corner kick into the box which proceeded to rebound off a Winthrop Eagle and across the goal line and into the net, giving GWU a 1-0 lead on a Winthrop own goal.
For the remainder of the next 24 minutes of the opening half, the Runnin' Bulldogs fired off six more shots, one of which was blocked and two which were stopped by Flato to keep GWU at one goal heading into the break.
Yet Winthrop picked up its play after the own goal, tallying five shots of its own in the final 20 minutes of the first half, including scoring the game tying goal in the 45th minute as Tomas Brennan found Adam Skonicki off a corner kick who put a shot in the near post off a GWU defender just before the first half horn sounded, putting the score up at 1-1.
Out of the 1-1 halftime break, the two teams' continued to fire off shots at will, putting the two goalkeepers on the first line of defense throughout the second half.
The two teams went back-and-forth, trading shots with each having one blocked and one stopped, until in the 61st minute Winthrop's Josh Mort scored putting the Eagles in front for the first time of the night at 2-1. Mort's goal came off a rebounded ball, as the Eagles' Nick Kowalski, who was credited with the assist, place a header on frame which was swatted away by GWU goalkeeper Adam Garcia, where the then rebounded loose ball was gathered in by Mort, who took one touch and put the ball into the back of the net for the goal ahead goal.
Over the next 10 minutes, the Runnin' Bulldogs took five shots, all of which were good scoring opportunities for GWU, as two shots were blocked while the final two were saved by the Winthrop defense, keeping the score at 2-1 in favor of Winthrop with a little over 18 minutes remaining in the contest.
After Gardner-Webb's Jon Ole Reinhardsen and Chris Davis each had a header hauled in by Flato over a two minute span, Winthrop was inches away from pushing its lead out to two as Skonicki had a shot hit off the post in the 80th minute.
GWU, who had a player taken down in the 18-yard box by a Winthrop defender in the 81st minute yet was not called, posted two more shots in the final 10 minutes of play, yet to no avail, as both sailed high and off target.
The Runnin' Bulldogs had eight players account for at least one shot in the match, as both Davis and Maxwell each posted five shots apiece, while senior Romeo Kabanda recorded four shots for the match.
Winthrop's Flato posted eight saves in the win, while Garcia tallied three saves in the loss.
Gardner-Webb (5-10, 3-3 Big South) will wrap up its 2010 regular season with back-to-back home conference matches next week. The Runnin' Bulldogs will host Presbyterian College on Tuesday, November 2, at 7 p.m. and Radford on Friday, November 5, at 7 p.m. at Greene-Harbison Field in Boiling Springs, N.C.
Winthrop will step out of non-conference play to host Marshall on Saturday, October 30, at 1 p.m.
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| Box Score: Winthrop 2, Gardner-Webb 1 |
