Freshmen Duo of Davis and Wrobel Lead GWU Past Winthrop 2-0 in the First Round of the 2010 Big South Men's Soccer Championship
November 11, 2010 | Men's Soccer
High Point, N.C. - The No. 3 seeded Gardner-Webb's men's soccer team scored one goal in each of the two halves to defeat the defending tournament champions and the No. 6 seeded Winthrop Eagles 2-0 in the first round of the 2010 Big South Men's Soccer Championship in High Point, N.C. on Thursday afternoon.
In the first half, Gardner-Webb came out of the first kick on the offensive attack, as the Runnin' Bulldogs outshot Winthrop 11-5 in the first 45 minutes of play.
Big South All-Freshman Team selection Chris Davis set the tone for the first 45 minutes of play early, firing off a shot that sailed high over the goal in the fourth minute of play.
After Winthrop saw a shot go wide, GWU had three straight headers over a five-minute span, two of which were turned away by Winthrop's goalkeeper Michael Flato, which kept the match scoreless15 minutes into the contest.
The Winthrop Eagles controlled possession of the ball for most of the next five minutes, getting off three shots to GWU's zero shot attempts until senior Romeo Kabanda had a shot attempt blocked by an Eagle defender in the 22nd minute.
Gardner-Webb's furious and consistent offensive attack finally broke through in the 23rd minute, as junior Richie Wall played a ball into the box where Davis got his head on the pass and put the header past the goal line to put the Runnin' Bulldogs up early at 1-0.
The goal was Davis' fifth of the season, while the assist was Wall's second on the year.
The Runnin' Bulldogs held Winthrop to only one shot for the remainder of the first half, as GWU had two more scoring opportunities turned away by Winthrop's Flato, keeping the score at 1-0 heading into the halftime break.
In the opening minutes of the second half, Winthrop's offense picked up the pace, yet the GWU defense held strong, as junior goalkeeper Adam Garcia made a great save on a Andres Pullin shot, punching the ball over the top of the goal in the 57th minute.
Only five minutes later in the 63rd minute, Winthrop's Josh Goldstein sent a ball on a line from 25-yards out that sailed just out of the outstretched reach of Garcia and hit the right front post rebounding out of bounds, as the Eagles just missed tying the score up with less than 30 minutes to play.
With only one shot in the first 25 minutes in the second half, Gardner-Webb's Davis got on a break away in the 76th minute. His shot was stopped by Winthrop's Flato, however, the rebounded ball bounced off of the Eagles' keeper where fellow All-Freshman Team selection Nicolas Wrobel put a one touch shot into the back of the open net to put the Runnin' Bulldogs up 2-0.
The Wrobel goal was his 10th on the year, adding to his team lead, while Davis picked up his second assist on the season.
Winthrop was able to get off three shots in the final five minutes of play, yet couldn't get one pass GWU's Garcia who held on to give the Runnin' Bulldogs the shutout win.
The win was GWU's seventh shutout of the season, as Garcia was strong in between the posts for the Runnin' Bulldogs, tallying four saves in the 2-0 win.
Gardner-Webb outshot Winthrop 15-11 for the match, as the Runnin' Bulldogs put nine shots on goal compared to the Eagles four.
GWU's win was only the second win over the Eagles, putting the Runnin' Bulldogs at 2-11-2 all-time against the Eagles.
The Runnin' Bulldogs, who had lost in the first round of its previous two appearances in the Big South Men's Soccer Championship, will take on the winner of the match between No. 2 Coastal Carolina and No. 7 VMI set for 2:30 p.m.
On the year, Gardner-Webb loss to Coastal Carolina 2-1 in Boiling Springs, N.C. on October 16th and defeated VMI 2-0 at home on October 9th.
Gardner-Webb's (8-10) second round and semifinal match is slated for a 4 p.m. start time tomorrow afternoon, Friday, November 12th, at High Point, N.C.
QUOTES
Gardner-Webb Head Coach Tony
Setzer
"What made this such a special win was the class and reputation of
the opponent today. You have to play well to beat a team like
them. We're very happy to get past the first round. I'm proud of
the guys today."
Winthrop Head Coach Rich Posipanko
"I want to congratulate Gardner-Webb. This was a typical
Winthrop/Gardner-Webb game. I thought it was a game of two halves
as they had the better in the first and I thought we had the better
in the second. At the end of the game it just felt like they
wanted it more than we did."
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| Box Score: No. 3 Gardner-Webb 2, No. 6 Winthrop 0 |
