Oct. 12, 2008

Box Score

Nashville, Tenn. - Lipscomb scored three goals in the first half en route to a 4-1 victory over USC Upstate in A-Sun men's soccer action Sunday afternoon at the Lipscomb Soccer Complex.

Lipscomb improved to 6-5-2 overall and remained undefeated in A-Sun play with a 2-0-1 record and seven points. Upstate fell to 1-11-0 overall and 0-4-0 in the league. The Spartans will take a week off before returning to the field next Sunday night at 7:00 against East Tennessee State at County University Soccer Stadium.

Upstate dodged a bullet in the 17th minute when Lipscomb was awarded a penalty kick after Upstate committed a foul in the penalty box. However, Miguel DaSilva's shot was saved by Upstate keeper Patrick Regna. The save ignited a flurry of activity as the Spartans countered, but Alex Garcev's shot just 30 seconds later was saved by Lipscomb keeper Patrick Walsh.

Lipscomb broke through and scored the first goal of the game in the 21st minute. Regna got a piece of Andre Samtos' shot, but the ball did not clear as Santos gained control of the rebound and put the shot into the net to give the Bisons a 1-0 lead.

The goal opened up a flood of offensive production for Lipscomb in the first half. Less than four minutes later, Lipscomb put together a three-man scoring play as Garret Pettis's shot found the goal on a double assist from Andrew Chamberlain and Ricardo Atti in the 15th minute. The goal gave Lipscomb a 2-0 lead.

With the first half winding down, Lipscomb put together a late push to essentially put the game away and came away with a goal by Tony Garibaldi with just five seconds to play in the half. The Bisons carried a commanding 3-0 lead into halftime.

The teams battled to a draw in the second half, both teams scoring goals. However, the 3-0 first half lead was the difference as the Lipscomb took the 4-1 win. Just under four minutes into the second half, Lipscomb did put the game away with its fourth goal of the game. Pettis notched his second goal of the day on an assist by Santos in the 49th minute.

Upstate cracked the scoreboard in the 54th minute when Alex Garcev fed Chad McCoy and the sophomore from Houston, Texas, found the back of the net to cut the Lipscomb lead to 4-1. However, the teams battled for the rest of the game without allowing another goal.

Peter Davis entered the game as Upstate's goalkeeper to start the second half in relief of Regna, who has battled nagging injuries for the last three weeks, and was solid in his second significant action of the season. He allowed one goal and made three saves for the Spartans.