BOILING SPRINGS, N.C.- Brandi Arey scored her fourth goal of the season to give the Runnin' Bulldogs a 1-0 lead, but Winthrop answered back with two goals within a three minute span in the final minutes of the first half, to defeat the Gardner-Webb women's soccer team 2-1, in the Big South conference opener on Saturday evening at Greene-Harbison Stadium.
"That was a tough loss. I thought we started fast and were rewarded with a goal. Credit to Winthrop, they fought back and scored two quick goals in a short amount of time and we were left chasing the rest of the match," commented Gardner-Webb head women's soccer coach Mike Varga.
Offensively, The Runnin' Bulldogs outshot the Eagles by a 19-12 margin and put nine shots on frame compared to just five for Winthrop. Ibarra totaled a game-high nine shots and four shots-on-goal to lead the charge for the Dogs, while Taylor Walton, Samantha Prytulak, JoJo Taylor, Taylor Coleman, and Lauren Kelly each had two shots for Winthrop.
"We had enough goods looks in the second half to equalize, but just couldn't find the back of the net. We have to play for 90 minutes or teams will make us pay that is what happened tonight."
Gardner-Webb jumped out to a 1-0 advantage in the 13th minute, as Samuelle Grove dribbled the ball down the left hand flank and put a cross into Arey, who chested the ball down to Ibarra, who shot it into the net for her second goal of the season.
The Runnin' Bulldogs continued to hold the lead until the 36th minute when after earning a corner kick, Zoe Conover played the ball into Lauren Watts, who then kicked it into the goal to tie the game at one.
Just three minutes later, an Eagle midfield played a through ball behind the GWU defense right to Taylor Coleman, who slotted the ball past Keely Brown to put Winthrop up 2-1.
Despite outshooting the Eagles 9-4 in the second half, Caroline Duncan stood strong in net, earning her third victory of the season and sent Winthrop to the 2-1 victory.
Gardner-Webb plays host to defending Big South Tournament champion High Point on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.
