Box Score ROCK HILL – Gardner-Webb (8-4-3; 3-1-1) defeated Winthrop (3-6-2; 0-4-1) by a score of 3-1 in the Big South Conference matchup Saturday afternoon from Rock Hill.
 
Maddie Turlington buried a penalty kick in the 21^st minute to kick off the game's scoring. Freshman Ainsley Sutherland scored her second goal of the season to put the Runnin' Bulldogs on top 2-0 just before the half. Winthrop's only goal came just three minutes into the second half, but Klara Ovefelt responded in the 51^st minute with a long-distance goal of her own to cap off the scoring for both offenses.
 
"Ainsley had one of her best games in a Gardner-Webb uniform," said head coach Mike Varga.
 
Today marked the tenth game this season Turlington has scored in. She now has 18 goals scored on the year.
 
"Winthrop came out with a lot of energy and created problems with their pressure, but we did a good job of getting two goals in the first half and carried that momentum into the second half to put the game away," said Varga. "Defensively we made some mistakes but we were good enough to come away with three points on the road which was the ultimate goal."
 
Goalkeeper Chloe Leffler faced eight shots and posted three saves in the match. Her record improved to 7-2-1 with the victory.
 
"It will be good to be at home again on Wednesday. Hopefully we can get a good crowd from start to finish," said Varga. "It is amazing that we are already in October, so hopefully we will have a ton of student support."
 
The Runnin' Bulldogs are next in action Wednesday, October 12, when they host conference opponent Presbyterian. The match is set to begin at 7 p.m. at Greene-Harbison Stadium.