Winthrop men's soccer team continues to excel

By Karl Lyles

The Winthrop men's soccer team is in first place in the Big South Conference with a 3-0-2 record in BSC play. The Eagles play at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Eagle Field against UNC Asheville.

Winthrop and Bucknell are tied for the nation's longest current streak of 20 straight games of scoring at least one goal. The Eagles' streak dates back to Oct. 25, 2008, when the Eagles lost, 1-0, at UNC Asheville.

The Eagles are second in the nation in scoring, averaging 2.58 goals per game.

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With a 9-2-2 overall record, men's soccer remained ninth in the latest NSCAA/adidas South Atlantic Region Poll. It is the fourth straight week in which the Eagles have held the ninth spot in the regional ranking.

TopDrawerSoccer.com chooses its Top 48 to make the NCAA tournament each week. The Web site has Winthrop in at No. 46.

At this point last season, the men's soccer team was 10-3. They won the BSC regular-season and tournament titles on their way to a 15-6-1 season. The 2009 Eagles will have to win their last three regular-season games and sweep through the BSC tournament to match that win total.

Miquel Casajuana has scored three goals in the last two games. The junior out of Barcelona, Spain, scored both goals in a 2-2 draw with Radford on Saturday. He got the game-winner in a 1-0 win at College of Charleston on Tuesday night. Casajuana has four goals for the year.

VOLLEYBALL — Coach Sally Polhamus did well to schedule a lot of home matches this season. Her team has responded well and is 11-1 on their home court. The Eagles are tied with Liberty for second place in the BSC standings heading into tonight's home match with High Point.

A new award has been implemented this year by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) to recognize outstanding plays. Winthrop junior outside hitter Kaley Viola could win it this week.

A video clip of Viola in a recent match against UNC Asheville is among the five finalists for the AVCA Play of the Week. In the clip, she smashes the ball through three defenders and knocks another opponent backward.

Fans can vote for their favorite play by going to avca.org/divisions/play-of-the-week. A check of the voting Thursday afternoon showed Viola had garnered nearly 62 percent of the votes.

Volleyball hosts Liberty at 2 p.m. Saturday. It will be Senior Day to honor Kelley Taylor, the lone senior on the roster.

Women's soccer has its Senior Day on Sunday afternoon at Eagle Field. The Eagles will play at 2 p.m. against Presbyterian. The seniors are Stevie Lucas and Jessica Hausfeld.

CROSS COUNTRY — The men's and women's teams are off this weekend as they prepare for the BSC championship on Oct. 31 at High Point. Coach Ben Paxton thinks his teams will be in the mix for BSC titles. The women's team was a picked fourth in the preseason poll, and the men were fifth.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL — Coach Bud Childers calls the first three weeks of practice “training camp.” One full week and eight practices are in the books. The coach has distributed the offensive portion of the 2009 Eagles playbook to his players — it's 145 pages.