Eagles to get stiff test in College Cup opener against Duke

By Karl Lyles - klyles@heraldonline.com

The Winthrop men's soccer team will play at Duke in the first round of the NCAA tournament at 7 p.m. Thursday.

The pairing was met with cheers from the team and its supporters Monday night. The crowd had assembled in the Eagle Room inside the Winthrop Coliseum to watch the announcement, which was broadcast on ESPNews.

Winthrop (11-5-4) received an automatic berth into the tournament — its second straight — after winning the Big South Conference tournament title Sunday afternoon.

Duke (12-6), ranked 24th nationally, finished sixth in the ACC during the regular season with a 4-4 record and lost to Boston College in the conference tournament quarterfinals.

The ACC placed seven teams in the tournament field. Virginia is the No. 2 seed, Wake Forest is seeded third, North Carolina No. 5 and N.C. State No. 15. Maryland, Boston College and Duke got at-large berths.

Winthrop coach Rich Posipanko and his staff have two days to prepare for the Blue Devils. Training today and Wednesday will be light to give the players time to recover from the conference tournament. The Eagles will travel to Durham, N.C., on Thursday morning.

“I haven't seen Duke play in three or four years,” Posipanko said. “Obviously, they are an ACC team and play at a high level. Once we find out what their strengths are, we'll go to work.”

Most importantly, Winthrop needs the two days to rest and heal. The BSC tournament was condensed to three days due to rain last week. It originally was slated to be a four-day event. The Eagles' first two games went to penalty kicks, and the team was noticeably fatigued after Sunday's final.

Winthrop has played three previous College Cup games: at North Carolina in 2002, at Old Dominion in 2006 and at William & Mary in 2008. The Eagles have yet to win a game on the NCAA's biggest stage. The Old Dominion game was their best opportunity; they lost 4-3 on penalty kicks.

A win at Duke would be the program's signature victory.

“We need to continue to click like we've been doing the last few games,” senior Matt Skonicki said, “and focus on defending as a whole unit.” Skonicki scored the game-winning goal Sunday against Liberty.

The winner of the match will go on to face 14th overall seed Michigan State at 1 p.m. Sunday in East Lansing, Mich.

NCAA TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE First-round games Thursday, Nov. 19

Connecticut at Monmouth, N.J., Noon

Sacramento State at Loyola Marymount, 4 or 5 p.m.

Stony Brook at Brown, 7 p.m.

Louisville at Indiana, 7 p.m.

Dartmouth at Boston College, 7 p.m.

UNC Wilmington at Charlotte, 7 p.m.

Winthrop at Duke, 7 p.m.

Loyola, Md. at Maryland, 7 p.m.

Bucknell at Providence, 7 p.m.

Stetson at South Florida, 7:30 p.m.