Oct. 25, 2008

Box Score

Spartanburg, S.C. - Peter Davis and David Stanbra, along with fellow senior Justin Gill, were honored prior to the start of Saturday's home finale on Senior Day. The duo came up big as USC Upstate scored two goals in the second half to take a 3-1 win over Mercer in A-Sun men's soccer action at County University Soccer Stadium.

Upstate improved to 2-13-0 overall and 1-6-0 with three points in the A-Sun. The win ended a 13-game losing streak for the Spartans. Mercer fell to 1-9-5 overall and 1-4-3 with six points in the league.

"We are very happy for the players," said Upstate head coach Greg Hooks. "It's hard to imagine that you can lose that many games in a row and still come out with hope. These guys have never shown anything but a commitment and faith that the work they have put in would pay off."

"It was really nice to see Peter and David play a part in getting this win today. They've seen some of the best times in the program and it was good they could pull off the win on Senior Day today."

Upstate narrowly missed opening a 1-0 lead in the 25th minute. Stanbra moved from his left toward the center of the field 30 yards out and lifted a shot toward the far post that hit the crossbar and Mercer cleared the rebound.

Stanbra, though, made his next shot count as the Spartans opened a 1-0 lead with 13 seconds remaining in the first half. Alex Garcev took control of the ball 30 yards out and moved through the Mercer defense. He moved into the box, drawing the Mercer defense and Bear keeper David Bird off his line. The sophomore from London, England, slid a pass to Stanbra on the left side of the box and the senior from Worcester, England, hammered a shot to the right of the retreating Bird and into the right side of the goal for a 1-0 Spartans advantage.

Upstate took the 1-0 lead into the locker room at halftime. Upstate and Mercer tied each other on shots in the first half with both teams taking six shots in the opening 45 minutes of play. The Bears took five corner kicks, but the Upstate defense, led by Davis, was able to clear each opportunity.

Upstate opened a 2-0 lead in the 52nd minute when Hakeem King played a pass to Garcev who took the pass and hammered what would have been a shot. However, a Mercer defender stepped in front of Garcev as he played the shot and the ball came down to Timo Foerster. Foerster made one fake and fired a shot to the right of Bird and into the goal. It was Foerster's first goal of the season.

Stanbra made his presence felt in the 66th minute when he assisted on Chad McCoy's goal to give Upstate a 3-0 lead. After a Mercer player played a ball with his feet back toward the end line, the Mercer keeper picked it up before it crossed the line. Since no one had touched the ball after the Mercer defender played the ball back, Upstate was awarded a free kick just six yards away from the goal at the end line. Stanbra took the kick and played a pass back to McCoy who put the shot into the upper right corner for the three-goal lead.

Mercer cut into the lead in the 79th minute when Fernando Ruth played a ball into the box from the left side of the field where Dominic Stockdale headed the ball past a diving Davis to cut the lead to 3-1. Davis had earlier made a fantastic diving save from point blank range with 25 minutes to play to keep the Bears off of the scoreboard to that point.

Mercer outshot Upstate 14-11, but Upstate made the most of its scoring opportunities. Davis made three saves to earn the win in goal for the Spartans. Stanbra finished with a goal and an assist, while Garcev added a pair of assists for the Spartans.