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NCAA men Entire Winthrop team is suspended for drinking incident.ROCK HILL, S.C. (Friday, August 26, 2005) -- The Winthrop men's soccer season got off to a terrible start today and the season doesn't begin for seven days. Each of the 27 players on the squad have been suspended for two-to-four games for his involvement in an off-campus party which allegedly had underage drinking, Winthrop assistant athletic director for media relations Jack Frost told Associated Press. The suspensions will start with tomorrow's exhibition match at Charlotte and will continue through October 7, including the first 11 of the school's 18 regular-season matches. Possibly five or six players will be suspended for each outing to avoid forfeiting any games. The Eagles open the regular season at Appalachian State next Friday. "All I can say is that they were involved in some activity where under-aged drinking occurred and alcohol was available," Frost told AP. Injured players will serve suspensions when they get healthy and red-shirted players will have their penalties carried over to next season, Frost added. Coach Rich Posipanko, who enters his 17th season at Winthrop, will decide which players miss which matches. The Eagles went 15-7-1 and qualified for the NCAA tournament for the first time in 2002, but were only 7-12 a year ago. With eight starters returning, Winthrop was picked to finish third in the Big South by the conference coaches. |
