ROCK HILL, SC – The Winthrop women’s soccer team remains undefeated at home this season after scoring three first half goals en route to a 4-2 win over the South Carolina State Bulldogs on Wednesday evening at Eagle Field.

The Eagles even their record at 4-4 on the season, while the Bulldogs fall to 1-5-2 overall.

“Tonight wasn’t our best performance of the year, but I felt like we created some good goals and took advantage of our opportunities,” said head coach Spencer Smith. “South Carolina State is a good team, and much better than their record shows. We dug in and were able to find a way to get the victory.”

Winthrop took advantage of its first two scoring chances of the opening half in a two-minute span to produce a 2-0 lead over the Bulldogs. In the 15^th minute Courtney Durbin notched her third goal of the season off a chip pass over the South Carolina State defense by Allie VandeWater. Durbin took two dribbles and beat Bulldog goalkeeper Danielle Murphy one-on-one. Okina Crawley scored her first goal as an Eagle in the 17^th minute from 25-yards out on the far side. Her shot went right to Murphy, but the ball slipped through her hands and into the net near side.

Krystyna Freda made it a 3-0 lead in favor of Winthrop in the 30^th minute off of VandeWater’s second assist of the game. VandeWater made a through pass to Freda, who ran by several South Carolina State defenders and beat Murphy one-on-one.

The Bulldogs made a comeback in the second half and cut their deficit to 3-2 with 10 minutes remaining in the contest. Olivia Moore recorded her second goal of the season in the 67^th minute from 35-yards out. She gained possession of the ball after a short clear by the Eagle defense, and put her shot over the head of Winthrop goalkeeper Sarah Schippers and scoring just under the crossbar. Tori Papp got her first goal of the year in the 79^th minute off a cross by Kaitlynn Cortez. Cortez made her cross just outside the 18-yard box far side to Papp, who beat an Eagle defender inside, and scored right in front of the net.

Freda’s second goal of the match, and fourth of the season, extended Winthrop’s lead to 4-2 in the 87^th minute off a free kick from 28-yards out. Kylene Babauta faked the initial shot and allowed Freda to follow behind her, where she put her shot in at the top-left corner of the net. It is the second time this season that Freda has scored two goals in a match.

The Eagles outshot South Carolina State 10-5 in the contest and 4-3 in shots on-goal, while the Bulldogs held a 5-3 advantage in corner kicks.

Freda led Winthrop offensively with two goals on three shots, while Schippers finished with one save. Moore attempted a team-high two shots for South Carolina State, and goalie Mariah Hebbe had two saves. Hebbe came on in relief of Murphy in the second half and played the final 27 minutes.

The Eagles will open Big South Conference play on Tuesday, Sept. 27 as they will travel to Boiling Springs, NC to face the Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs at 7 p.m.

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