University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics
Mercer
Spartans Fall To First-Place Mercer On The Road
10/17/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Oct. 17, 2008
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - When it rains, it pours, as the USC Upstate women's soccer team experienced firsthand on a rainy Friday night at Mercer. The first-place Bears confirmed their dominance in a game where they outscored the Spartans, 6-0.
Mercer established themselves as the A-Sun Conference's first-place team through their consistency in play on Friday. The Upstate women were unable to compete with the speedy, talented Mercer squad, boasting an offense that scored two goals in the first half and four goals in the second half to easily defeat the Spartans.
"Mercer really stepped on the field and established their presence as the top team in the Conference," said head coach Kendall Reyes. "They made tonight's game very difficult for us to perform at the level at which we normally perform. Hats off to Mercer for an outstanding job tonight."
Freshman Ali Meek began the offensive production 20 minutes after play began off an assist from Olivia Tucker for her fifth goal of the season. Heather Uhrinek then notched her first goal of the season with under five minutes of play left in the first half with a low shot beyond Brittany Daughtry into the bottom right corner of the net.
The young and frustrated Spartan team saw key starters, Santana De Freitas and Meg Korpita, leave the game with injuries and after using all their subs, finished the first half with a player down. The Mercer team then took advantage of the situation on the field after the half, scoring their third goal of the game only minutes after the second half began off a free kick that Daughtry was unable to handle cleanly.
The poor play was inconsistent for the Spartan team that has remained competitive in close games all season long. The Spartans were forced to adapt to a different style of play by Mercer, a task that was more difficult without De Freitas and Korpita on defense. Freshman Caitlin Beale moved to defense to replace the injured Korpita in the second half.
The Mercer offense was relentless as they teamed to put three more goals on the scoreboard before the game's end. Totaling 27 shots, the Bears had six different players who scored goals. On the contrary, the Spartans totaled only four shots. Daughtry allowed four goals and earned six saves during the game before being replaced by Samantha Spradley, who notched two saves.
The Spartans will have an off-day tomorrow and return to Conference action on Sunday, when they will play at Kennesaw State at 2 p.m.
