Nov. 2, 2008

Box Score

Fort Myers, Fla. - Reining A-Sun Player of the Week David Stanbra scored two goals to lead the USC Upstate men's soccer team to a 2-2 tie in the Spartans's A-Sun finale Sunday afternoon in Florida. The draw marks the first tie for Upstate as a member of NCAA Division I.

Upstate stands 2-14-1 overall and 1-7-1 with four points in the A-Sun. The Spartans will end the season, its second playing on the Division I level, Friday night at Clemson. FGCU is 5-10-2 overall and 3-5-1 with 10 points in the conference.

Despite being outshot 20-9 for the game, Upstate received solid play from a couple of seniors to earn the tie. Stanbra, who notched a goal and an assist last Saturday in a 3-1 win over Mercer that enabled the Worcester, England, native to garner A-Sun Player of the Week honors, and goalkeeper Peter Davis led the Spartans Sunday.

Stanbra opened the scoring in the 26th minute when Hakeem King and Alex Garcev put together a combination of passes that resulted in Stanbra's goal as Upstate opened a 1-0 lead.

In a game that saw Upstate put pressure on FGCU and the Eagles answering each time, FGCU evened the match at 1-1 in the 34th minute. The Eagles were granted a free kick deep in Upstate territory and Scott Harrison put home the header for the game-tying goal.

The teams played the remainder of the half to a scoreless tie and then finished off the majority of the second half with neither team finding the back of the net until a late flurry of activity.

With a little more than five minutes to play in regulation, Stanbra gained control of the ball and hammered home a shot to give Upstate the 2-1 lead with 5:02 to play in regulation. Upstate looked to hold on for its second A-Sun win of the year, but just as in the first half, FGCU answered with a little less than two minutes to play in regulation when Cristian Raudales found the back of the net to send the game into overtime.

Upstate was the more aggressive team in overtime, taking three total shots in the two overtime periods, while FGCU took just one. However, neither team managed to score the winning goal and the game ended in the 2-2 tie.

Stanbra's two goals increased his team-leading point total to nine points on four goals and an assist. He is tied for the team lead with Garcev who's assist Sunday gave him nine points for the season. He leads the Spartans with five assists. Davis led Upstate in goal, finishing with 12 saves on the day. The 12 saves is the fourth-highest single-game total in school history. Davis made eight saves in the second half alone.