Eagles still have a shot at BSC title

By Karl Lyles - klyles@heraldonline.com

Ten days ago, it looked as if Winthrop was on its way to clinching its second straight Big South regular-season championship. The Eagles had just beaten UNC Asheville and extended the nation's longest scoring streak to 21 games.

After two straight scoreless losses, the Eagles need a win at home tonight and some help to get the top seed in the upcoming BSC tournament. The Eagles host Coastal Carolina at 7 p.m. at Eagle Field.

Winthrop lost 4-0 in a nonconference match at Elon on Oct. 27 and followed that up with a 3-0 setback at Liberty on Saturday. The Liberty match was the worst loss in conference play since 2003. The team hadn't been shut out in back-to-back games since 2000.

“To be honest, I don't have an answer,” Winthrop coach Rich Posipanko said about the team's recent slide. “Our training wasn't good, and we played worse in the games.”

The last two training sessions have been better. That's good because eight of the last 10 conference championships have hinged on the result of the Winthrop-Coastal matchup. Winthrop clinched the BSC title on Nov. 5, 2008, at Coastal Carolina on the Chanticleers' Senior Night.

Winthrop, 10-4-2 overall and 4-1-2 in BSC action, currently leads the conference with 14 points (3 points for a win, 1 for a tie), but there is a lot yet to be decided.

Tonight's game will complete the regular season for the Eagles. A win would give Winthrop a chance to repeat as regular-season champs. A tie probably wouldn't, and a loss would end the possibility.

Winthrop midfielder Michael Luk knows the importance of this game.

“It gives us a lot of pressure,” said Luk, one of eight seniors on the team. “We've put it on ourselves, though. We haven't had everyone on top of their game. We haven't been grinding out the games the way we did early in the year.”

Add to the mix the rivalry with Coastal, and this should be a great match.

“The first 15 to 20 minutes will be full of hard tackles … every inch will count,” Luk added. “It will be a hard, hard game. Every corner, every shot will be important.”

Coastal (3-0-3 BSC), High Point (4-1-1 going into Monday's match at Radford) and Liberty (2-1-2) are all in the hunt to win the regular season and take the No. 1 seed into the tournament. High Point hosts Liberty on Wednesday night.

The BSC tournament will be played Nov. 12-15 at High Point.