ROCK HILL, SC – Krystyna Freda scored a career-high two goals on Friday evening as the Winthrop women’s soccer team defeated the USC Upstate Spartans 6-0 at Eagle Field.

The Eagles improve to 2-3 on the season, while the Spartans fall to 0-5-1 overall.

The six goals scored by Winthrop are the most since a 6-1 win over the South Carolina State Bulldogs on Oct. 14, 2004. Five different Eagles scored in the match, including the first by Freda and Devin Puckett in their careers.

“We showed some energy tonight,” said head coach Spencer Smith. “I thought we came out from the start and played hard. We didn’t play as well as we are capable of playing in the first half, but nevertheless we showed the energy.”

Winthrop looked to strike first in the 15^th minute when Lia Gorden received a long ball pass from Ashley Herndon on the far side. Gorden was able to beat a USC Upstate defender, but her shot from the top of the six-yard box was blocked by Spartan goalkeeper Sarah Plantz.

The Eagles took a 1-0 lead in the 27^th minute on Freda’s first goal of the contest. Rachel Webster put her pass over the USC Upstate defense right to Freda, who beat a defender and scored in the right side of the net.

The Spartans outshot Winthrop 9-8 in the opening stanza, but the Eagles led 7-4 in attempts on-net. Winthrop also held a 4-1 advantage in corner kicks.

Webster attempted a team-best two shots in the first half, while goalkeeper Sarah Schippers had four saves. Michelle Calmeyn led USC Upstate with four shots, and Plantz finished with six saves.

The Eagles wasted little time scoring in the second half by taking a 2-0 lead in the 47^th minute on Allie VandeWater’s first goal of the season. Courtney Durbin made a crossing pass to VandeWater in the middle of the field, who was wide open and beat Spartan goalkeeper Rachel Collins one-on-one.

Freda recorded her second goal of the night in the 52^nd minute to give Winthrop a 3-0 lead. Webster received her second assist after gaining possession of the ball at the top of the 18-yard box after Tori Davis’ initial shot was blocked by Collins. The ball landed in front of Webster where she made a quick pass to Freda, who scored from 15 yards out.

The Eagles increased their advantage to 4-0 in the 63^rd minute on Durbin’s second goal of the season. Durbin got the ball after a USC Upstate defender mishandled the ball near side, and left Durbin with a one-on-one chance against Collins. Durbin beat Collins on the near side scoring from 14 yards away.

In the 70^th minute Gorden gave Winthrop a 5-0 lead on her first goal of the year when Durbin made a through pass and allowed her to beat Collins one-on-one on the far side. It was also Durbin’s second assist of the game.

It became 6-0 in favor of the Eagles in the 85^th minute when Puckett scored from inside the six-yard box near side. Winthrop had the advantage in front of the net where Gabrielle Corn made a pass over to Grace Radler, who turned and dished the ball over to Puckett. She would place her shot just inside the far post.

“In the second half I thought we played well and with some energy,” Smith said. “As a result we were able to get the win. Hopefully we can build on this going forward and continue to keep getting better.”

The Eagles concluded the match with a 20-12 lead in shots and 16-5 in shots on-goal, while posting seven corner kicks to the Spartans’ one.

Freda led Winthrop with five shots, all coming on-goal, and Schippers snagged four saves. Kelsy Weavil also had one save for the Eagles. Calmeyn and Katrina Savoy each took four shots for USC Upstate, while Plantz had six saves and Collins with four.

Winthrop will be back in action on Sunday, Sept. 11 as it travels to Cullowhee, NC to face the Western Carolina Catamounts at 2 p.m.

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