WILMINGTON, North
Carolina - Senior Tyler Wheaton scored the game's lone goal in the 23rd
minute and UNCW fought off a charging Winthrop side the rest of the way for a
1-0 win in the final game of the UNCW/Courtyard by Marriott Classic at the UNCW
Soccer Stadium.
The 24th-ranked Seahawks (3-1) won the tournament title for
the second consecutive year and fourth overall. Winthrop finished second after
splitting its matches this weekend and moved to 2-2 on the season.
In the 23rd minute it was a flurry of activity in the
Winthrop penalty area as junior Christian Davidson fired a shot from 10 yards
out that hit the post and rebounded to the ground at Wheaton's feet 17 yards
from the goal. Wheaton took one touch before sending a low-liner into the
bottom righthand corner for his first goal of the season.
In the second half, though, Winthrop had several
opportunities to draw even, but was unable. Andres Pullin fired a shot off the
cross bar from 17 yards out in the 67th minute. With less than nine minutes in
regulation, Ted Bartels received a cross from the leftside, but missed a
wide-open goal when his shot sailed high.
Winthrop held a 12-9 advantage in shots, but managed just
four on goal.
UNCW senior goal keeper Brock Duckworth posted his third
shutout of the season behind three saves.
The Seahawks visit Campbell on Sept. 15 for a 7 p.m. start
against their long-time rival.
All-Tournament Team:
Nik Conklin (LIU), Steve Jakubowski (LIU), Warren Creaville (UCF), Nicholas
Meown-Robson (UCF), Andres Pullin (Winthrop), Ted Bartels (Winthrop), Tomas
Brennan (Winthrop), Indy Smith (UNCW), Etienne Boulanger (UNCW), Brian Harrison
(UNCW), Christian Davidson (UNCW)
Offensive MVP
: Andres Pulin
(Winthrop); Defensive MVP: Indy
Smith (UNCW)
Notes: The
Seahawks scored first for the fourth straight match ... UNCW has carried 1-0
leads into the intermission in each game this season ... After allowing three
goals against West Virginia, UNCW has posted back-to-back shutouts ... For Indy
Smith, it was his second UNCW/Courtyard by Marriott Classic Defensive MVP ... In
Sunday's first game, UCF notched a 2-0 win over Long Island.