Rock Hill’s Coulson scores twice in Winthrop soccer victory

Sophomore Charles Coulson scored two goals to lead Winthrop men's soccer to a 2-0 victory over Appalachian State, Tuesday evening at Eagle Field.

The win snaps a five-game losing streak for the Eagles as they improve to 2-5 in their final preparation for Big South Conference play that begins this Saturday, Sept. 26 at Liberty with a noon kickoff. The Mountaineers fall to 3-4 on the year. It was the first shutout by the Eagles on the season and the first time the Mountaineers were shutout.

Coulson, the former Rock Hill Bearcat, didn't take long to put his name on the scoring column as he netted his first goal of the season 22 seconds into the match. The Eagles won the ball at midfield and worked their way toward goal as Patrick Barnes chipped a ball over the top of the defense as Coulson ran on. The sophomore forward brought down the ball as he entered the box and then fired a left-footed shot past Paul West.

The second goal came late in the game as the Mountaineers pressed for a tying goal as Nil Vinyals slipped a ball past the backline of Appalachian State. Coulson ran on to the ball for a one-on-one versus West. As West ran out to try and win the ball, Coulson touched it by him and then slotted the ball into the open net from the top of the box.

Fabian Broich returned to goal for the Eagles as he made two saves to earn the shutout while West finished the game with two saves as well. One of the saves by Broich saved the game in the 57th minute when Stephen Chapman, the Mountaineers leading scorer, found himself with a good look from about eight yards as the ball fell to his feet but hit shot toward the upper part of the goal was just tipped wide by Broich.

Winthrop women face UNC Asheville in Big South clash

The Winthrop Eagles’ soccer team will cap off their three-match home stand when they host the UNC Asheville Bulldogs at Eagle Field Wednesday night at 6 p.m.

The Eagles got back on the winning track when they earned their first clean sheet of the season, scoring a season-high three goals in a 3-0 victory over The Citadel last Friday night. Sophomore midfielder Courtney McLeod scored her first goal of the season early in the match in what turned out to be the game winner. Senior midfielder Megan David had her first career multi-goal game when she scored two second half goals to seal Winthrop’s victory. Junior goalkeeper Caroline Duncan was able to compile five saves in this shutout.

UNC Asheville is off to a 6-2 start this season and is coming off a 2-1 overtime victory over USC Upstate this past weekend. They enter the match on a two game win streak, with both victories coming in overtime. The Bulldogs have faced three similar opponents as Winthrop this season. They also have victories over Francis Marion (3-0) and The Citadel (4-0). However they were unable to find the back of the net in 3-0 loss to Western Carolina while the Lady Eagles tied them 1-1 in the season opener.

Winthrop trails in this series 7-8-1. The Lady Eagles claimed their sixth straight win over the Bulldogs last season with a 5-0 shutout in Asheville.

For the latest information on Winthrop women's soccer, follow @WUWOMENSSOCCER on Twitter or go to www.winthropeagles.com.

This story was originally published September 23, 2015 at 7:03 AM with the headline "Rock Hill’s Coulson scores twice in Winthrop soccer victory."