GWU Men's Soccer Falls at Home on 'Senior Night' to Winthrop, 1-0
November 03, 2011 | Men's Soccer
Boiling Springs, N.C. - The Gardner-Webb men's soccer team's bid to finish the regular season undefeated at home came up just short, as the Runnin' Bulldogs suffered their first home loss of the season, 1-0, to the Winthrop Eagles on Wednesday night in their final regular season match of the year.
The loss snaps GWU's unbeaten streak at six and drops the Runnin' Bulldogs to 8-7-3 overall and 5-3-1 in the Big South. With the win, Winthrop improves to 7-10 overall and 3-5 in Big South play.
Riding high after the pre-game Senior Night festivities, in which seniors Julian Morris, Richie Wall, Kevin Nolan and Eric Asanin-Miroux were all recognized, the Runnin' Bulldogs looked to secure a win to finish the season perfect at home (5-0) and claim second-place overall in the Big South regular season standings.
Wall recorded the first shot of the game in the very first minute, only to have Winthrop goalkeeper Enrique Miranda catch the ball in flight and trap it to his chest to spoil the senior's first scoring attempt.
Winthrop's first scoring opportunity came in the 11th minute, as Andres Pullin played a cross from the right of the box to the left where Nick Kowalski fired a shot that found its way just inside the front left post to give the Eagles the early 1-0 lead.
Gardner-Webb's Chris Davis looked to tie the score up less than a minute later, only to have Winthrop's Miranda make a great save, his second of the night, to keep the home team off the scoreboard.
Over the next 25 minutes of play, GWU outshot the Eagles 6-3, as Davis and sophomore Chijioke Akujuobi each had a shot on frame, which were both stopped by Miranda.
In GWU's goal, redshirt-junior Scott Krotee made two stops of his own to keep the Eagles from increasing their lead throughout the first half.
Just before the first half ended, in the 43rd minute, GWU's Akujuobi gave the Runnin' Bulldogs perhaps their best scoring chance of the night, as the sophomore battled with a Winthrop defender down the right side of the box. Akujuobi was able to get just enough of his right foot on the ball to send it toward the center of the goal and past Miranda, only to have another Winthrop defender slide in and clear the ball out of the box to spoil Gardner-Webb's attempt to knot the score up at 1-1.
The intensity and physicality picked up in the second half of play, as both teams were battling hard for control of the contest.
After Krotee made two saves on back-to-back shot attempts from Winthrop in the 52nd and 53rd minutes, the Gardner-Webb offense tried to find the equalizer, as Davis had a shot attempt blocked in the 58th minute, while Wall sent a laser wide left of the goal in the 63rd minute.
The Runnin' Bulldogs would get only two more shots off in the final 27 minutes of play, both of which were blocked, as the Eagles outshot GWU 5-2 during that span, forcing Krotee to account for three more saves to keep the home team in the match.
The final horn sounded with the Eagles taking the 1-0 road win over the Runnin' Bulldogs, giving Gardner-Webb their first loss since October 1st at Campbell.
Gardner-Webb outshot Winthrop 15-14 and held a slight 7-6 advantage in corner kicks, a sign of balanced the match was from start to finish.
GWU's Krotee suffered the loss despite recording seven saves for the match, while Winthrop's Miranda recorded the win with four saves of his own.
Davis led the GWU offense with five shot attempts, two of which were on goal, one ahead of junior midfielder John Sargent who totaled four shot attempts.
Gardner-Webb (8-7-3, 5-3-1 Big South) will now have a week off before their next match, as the Runnin' Bulldogs will set their sights on the 2011 Big South Men's Soccer Championships which begin on Thursday, November 10th, in Boiling Springs, N.C.
Winthrop (7-10, 3-5 Big South) will wrap up their 2011 regular season this Saturday afternoon, November 5th, as the Eagles will host the Radford Highlanders at 12 p.m. in Rock Hill, S.C.
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| Box Score: Winthrop 1, Gardner-Webb 0 |
