Published: Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009 / Updated: Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009 01:15 AM

Eagles men's soccer team defeats UNCA for 10th win of season

Winthrop coach Rich Posipanko had three goals in the back of his mind for this year's team at the start of the season. The team achieved the second of those three goals Saturday night in a 3-1 Big South Conference win over UNC Asheville.

Posipanko began the year with lots of new faces on the roster. The first goal was to improve everyday.

“I think we've done that,” Posipanko said.

One of the freshmen is goal keeper Enrique Miranda who has shown steady development through the season. He only needed to make one save against the Bulldogs but he has three shutouts to his credit. The latest blanking was Tuesday night at College of Charleston.

“Defensively we've improved a lot since the beginning,” Miranda said. The 6-foot-3 keeper from Norcross, Ga., spoke with a sense of confidence after the UNC Asheville win.

Getting the shutout at College of Charleston was especially sweet for Miranda. Many of the Cougars' freshmen played on the U18 team last summer that beat Miranda's squad and went on to win the national championship.

Posipanko's second goal was to win 10 games.

Fourteen games into the season, Winthrop got win No. 10 Saturday. The Eagles are now 10-2-2 overall and their 4-0-2 record in BSC play is good for first place.

Winthrop has three games left to play before the conference tournament.

“I thought we were good overall tonight,” Posipanko said, “But we also missed numerous scoring opportunities. ”

UNC Asheville scored the first goal of the match at the 9:33 mark. Bryan George finished a through pass that got behind the Winthrop defense.

Winthrop countered quickly although UNC Asheville seemed content to sit back defensively with their early lead. Eagles' defender Cameron Alksnis got the equalizer less than three minutes later. Adam Skonicki scored the go-ahead goal in the 17th minute. Skonicki also added two assists on the night

Winthrop extended the nation's longest streak of games with at least one goal. The Eagles have scored in 21 consecutive matches. They will go for 22-in-a-row at 7 p.m. Tuesday in a non-conference match at Elon.