Elon blanks Winthrop to eliminate Eagles from NCAA tournament

Elon beat Winthrop 3-0 in the first round of the NCAA men’s soccer College Cup Thursday night.

Winthrop (11-7-2) out-shot the host Phoenix at Rudd Field, but where the Eagles were wasteful in front of the goal, Elon (14-5-1) made its chances count, scoring in each half to clinch the program’s first NCAA tournament win and second trip to the second round. The loss was coach Rich Posipanko’s final match in charge of the Winthrop program; he announced before the season that he would step down after 27 years as the Eagles’ head man.

Elon entered the match with one win in its past five games, while Winthrop hadn’t lost in its previous five. But it was the Phoenix that started with more urgency, pressing the Eagles whenever they got the ball. That prevented Winthrop from finding a passing rhythm and kept Elon on the front foot.

Only a perfectly timed C.J. Miller tackle with about 12 minutes left in the first half prevented Elon striker Jaiden Fortune from breaking into the penalty area with just the keeper to beat, but Fortune impacted the game moments later. Left alone on the right wing, he swung a cross into the heart of the Winthrop 18-yard box where Elon midfielder James Brace prodded the ball past Winthrop keeper Fabian Broich the first time for a 1-0 Phoenix lead.

Winthrop cranked up the pressure in the second half.

With about 21 minutes left, Winthrop striker Max Hasenstab got loose in the box on the right side, but blazed his volley wide from close range. Eagles midfielder Magnus Thorsson then tried his luck from distance, but Elon keeper Matthew Jegier beat the shot away for a corner kick.

Hasenstab had Winthrop’s best chance of the game when bore down on Elon’s goal with about 16 minutes left, but Jegier denied him with his leg.

That miss proved crucial. With about 12 minutes left and Winthrop continuing to push up in search of an equalizer, Elon’s Eduardo Alvarez curled a ball into the net off the right post to seal the win for the Phoenix. Cooper Vandermaas-Peeler added a late third goal for Elon, which faces Clemson in the second round.

This story was originally published November 19, 2015 at 9:19 PM with the headline "Elon blanks Winthrop to eliminate Eagles from NCAA tournament."