Lady Eagles roll in home finale

From staff reports

The Winthrop women's soccer team wrapped up the home portion of its schedule on Sunday afternoon, coming away with a 3-0 victory over Presbyterian at Eagle Field.

The Lady Eagles improved to 5-9-2 overall and 2-4-1 in Big South Conference play, while the Blue Hose fell to 3-11-1 and 0-6-1.

“It was good to score some goals today,” coach Melissa Heinz said. “It was good to finish out our home schedule with a win and with a lot of goals. I'm proud of the team.”

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It appeared Winthrop had taken a 1-0 lead in the 21st minute on a goal by Jessica Hausfeld, but she was ruled offside inside the 18-yard box, negating the goal.

The Lady Eagles went up 1-0 in the 23rd minute on Kylie Long's second goal of the season. The opportunity for Long was created after she received a through pass from Lia Gordon in the Presbyterian defense. Long then beat one Blue Hose defender and put her shot past a diving Abby Young from 20 yards out. It was the first assist of the season for Gordon.

Winthrop added to its lead on Ariel Kunde's first collegiate goal after she snuck past the Presbyterian defense and got a crossing pass to the far post from Katie Perkinson 30 yards out. Perkinson put the ball right at Kunde, who headed the ball past Young.

Sydney Ransom made it a 3-0 game on her first career goal in the 66th minute. Lindsay Taylor made a pass to Ransom down the line of the 18-yard box, and Ransom took a shot across her body right at a jumping Sara Beth Anderson, who had come into the game for Young. Anderson attempted to knock the ball over the goal but was unable to do so, and the ball bounced several times before going into the net.

“This game was like Friday night (against UNC Asheville) in that we got a lot of players in,” Heinz said. “That was good to have a lot of players contribute to the win. The exciting thing about today is that we created some great goals, and that's always fun to have.”

The Lady Eagles outshot the Blue Hose 11-4, and held an 8-0 advantage in shots on goal. Presbyterian led in corner kicks 4-2.

Winthrop goalkeeper Kelsy Weavil picked up her fifth shutout of the season, despite not recording any saves.

Young finished the match four saves, and Anderson snagged one save.

“We're pleased to get another win,” Heinz said. “I'm looking forward to our last two conference games and finishing strong.”

The Lady Eagles will be back in action at 3 p.m. Thursday as they travel to Charleston Southern.