After losing five straight matches away from home, Winthrop (1-5) returns to the friendly confines of Eagle Field in Rock Hill this evening (Tuesday) to try and end their losing streak against a hard-to-figure Appalachian State team (3-3) at 7 p.m.
Winthrop played a man up for the final 46 minutes and five seconds of their game with USC-Upstate last week, but that didn't slow up the Upstate offense as it managed to score three second half goals to seal Winthrop's fifth consecutive loss.
This will be the 17th time that Winthrop and AppState have squared off. The Mountaineers lead the series 10-4-2. The last meeting came in 2011 when App State won 3-0.
Winthrop has, by far, played the toughest early-season schedule of the two teams. The Eagles' losses have come to College of Charleston, Wofford, Furman, UNC-Charlotte and USC-Upstate. Appalachian went into last week ranked as the #8 team in the NCAA Southeast Region; then proceeded to lose two straight matches to Longwood and Radford. The odds are strong that the two recent losses will bump the Apps from the rankings. This week's rankings will be announced around 1 PM today.
Under the aformentioned circumstances, both teams are desperate for a win. The Winthrop side needs to get the monkey off their backs; while ASU head coach Matt Nelson is fighting to keep his job. His contract expired last December and he received only a one-year extension.
Winthrop, with perhaps equal talent, a tougher early-season schedule, a chip on their shoulders and the home pitch advantage probably has a notable edge in this one. Que sera, sera!
Go here for LiveStats... http://stat.winthropeagles.com/livestat ... /XLIVE.htm
Big South Network (Video)... http://www.bigsouthsports.com/live/11537
