ROCK HILL, SC – The Winthrop women’s soccer team picked up two second-half goals from Tori Davis and Krystyna Freda within a span of 11 seconds on Thursday evening and held on to defeat the Presbyterian College Blue Hose 2-1 at Eagle Field.

The Eagles improve their record to 9-6 overall and 5-2 in the Big South, while the Blue Hose drop to 3-11-2 on the season and 1-4-2 in conference play.

“I was proud of the way we came back in the second half after going down one goal,” said head coach Spencer Smith. We showed some resiliency and I thought we scored two nice goals. Presbyterian College was very good tonight and gave us a lot more than we could really handle, but again I was really proud of the way we battled back and were able to get the win.”

Winthrop’s two second half goals came after it fell behind of Presbyterian College 1-0 in the 67^th minute on Sara Simpson’s third goal of the season. Gracie Boswell’s cross into the middle of the field to Simpson set up the goal as she put her shot in over the head of Eagle goalie Sarah Schippers from 23 yards out.

The goal by Davis, her fourth of the season, came in the 79^th minute off a cross from Devin Puckett outside the 18-yard box near side. Davis’ goal tied the contest at 1-1. Puckett dribbled past several Blue Hose defenders to the outer part of the 18-yard box and put her cross back into the middle of the box. Davis was there to receive the cross and put her header over the head of Presbyterian College goalkeeper Sarah Beth Anderson. The assist by Puckett was the first of her career.

Winthrop wasted little time netting the game-winner as 11 seconds later Freda put her shot from 16 yards out past Anderson and gave the Eagles the 2-1 advantage. The goal by Freda was her tenth of the season, and makes her the first Winthrop player since Chelsea White in 2006 to record at least 10 goals in a season. Freda is only the third player in program history to tally double-digit goals in a season as Whitney Sanders also achieved the mark in 2003. It was also her team-leading sixth game-winning goal of the season, which also sets a school record.

The Blue Hose outshot the Eagles 16-15 in the match, while Winthrop held an 8-7 advantage in shots on-goal. The Eagles also led in corner kicks 6-3.

Freda finished with a team-high six shots for Winthrop, and Schippers had six saves. Stephanie Allen led the Presbyterian College offense with four shots, while Anderson snagged six saves as well.

The Eagles will be back in action on Saturday, Oct. 22 as they host the UNC Asheville Bulldogs at 7 p.m. Saturday is also Senior Night for Winthrop as it will honor Kelsy Weavil, Nichole Smith, Rachel Webster and Courtney Durbin prior to the contest.