Spartans Set to Close Out Non-Conference Schedule
9/21/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – To close out the 2010 non-conference slate, the USC Upstate men's soccer squad will host UNC Asheville and Furman at County University Soccer Stadium, before continuing a four-match home stand with a pair of conference matches against Mercer (9/30) and Campbell (10/2).
At A Glance...
• Scouting the Bulldogs and the Paladins
• Looking Back at Gardner-Webb and Wofford
• Timo Foerster Ranks in the Top-10 in the NCAA
• Chad and Chris McCoy Return to the Pitch after Missing the 2009 Season
Scouting the Bulldogs
UNC Asheville (2-3-0) is on a four-game tour of the Atlantic Sun Conference. The Bulldogs traveled to Nashville, Tenn., this past weekend for the Lipscomb University Tournament. In the opening game, Asheville fell to host Lipscomb by a score of 2-0. On Sunday, the Bulldogs dropped its match to Belmont, 2-1. Upstate will be the third of four A-Sun members Asheville will face. Following Wednesday's match, the Bulldogs will travel to Johnson City, Tenn., to face ETSU in the final match before starting Big South Conference play. Asheville's two victories have come against Eastern Illinois (W 3-0, 9/5/10) and Brevard College (W, 3-0, 9/8/10).
Jake Hagedorn leads the team in goals (3), points (6) and shots (11). Connor Holzinger leads the team in assists with three and ranks second on the team in points (5). Meanwhile Bryan Bartels has scored two goals in 2010, both of which have proved to be game-winning goals for Asheville. Lassi Hurskainen has logged all 450 minutes between the pipes for the Bulldogs. The Asheville keeper has tallied 21 saves while allowing seven goals (1.40 GAA), owns a save percentage of .750 and has recorded two shutout victories.
Last season, Upstate defeated Asheville at Greenwood Field, thanks to two first half goals (9/16/09). Less than six minutes into the match, John Kadane scored his first collegiate goal on a scramble in front of the goal. Less than 20 minutes later, Timo Foerster found the back of the net to give the Spartans a 2-0 advantage. Asheville added a goal in the 86th-minute to set the final score at 2-1. Fans not in attendance can watch the action live online at ASun.TV by visiting the service's web site, www.asun.tv, and clicking on the USC Upstate tab. Fans can also recieve live statistical updates by visiting the official Upstate Athletics Web site at www.upstatespartans.com.
Scouting the Paladins
Furman enters the week with a 4-2-0 record overall and will face Clemson on Wednesday night before arriving at County University Soccer Stadium for Saturday's match at Upstate. Furman owns a pair of victories over A-Sun schools in 2010, the Paladins defeated ETSU 1-0 on Sept. 1 and defeated Stetson 2-1 (2OT) on Sept. 12. Both of Furman's losses have come on away from Stone Stadium, a 2-1 (OT) loss at Presbyterian College (9/4) and fell 1-0 to Lehigh (9/17) in Mt. Pleasant, S.C., at the Nike/Aaron Olitsky Memorial Classic.
Forward Fabien Vorbe leads the Paladins in goals (3), points (6), shots (17), shots on-goal (7) and game-winning goals (2). Josh Lietch paces the team in assists with two, while six other players have recorded an assist this season. Alec Kann has logged all 572:23 in goal for the Paladins in 2010. He has tallied 18 saves (.692 save percentage), while allowing eight goals (1.26 GAA) and recorded a shutout victory against ETSU to kick-off the 2010 season.
Fans not in attendance can watch the action live online at ASun.TV by visiting the service's web site, www.asun.tv, and clicking on the USC Upstate tab. Fans can also recieve live statistical updates by visiting the official Upstate Athletics Web site at www.upstatespartans.com.
Looking Back at Gardner-Webb and Wofford
After a draw in the home opener, the Spartans hit the road for a pair of non-conference matches against Gardner-Webb (9/15) and Wofford (9/17). Upstate fell 1-0 to the homestanding Bulldogs, as Romeo Kabanda scored in the 16th-minute to lift GWU to the win over the Spartans. Two days later, Upstate made the short trip to Wofford for a Friday night matchup. The Terriers came away with the 4-1 victory as they posted two goals in each half (41', 42', 80', 84'). Upstate's only goal of the match was scored by Erkan Yildirim off of a rebound with just 18 seconds remaining in the first half.
Deliver with Care: Timo's Helpers
Junior midfielder Timo Foerster recorded an assist on all three goals the Spartans scored in the season opener at Georgia Southern (9/1). Hakeem King, John Kadane and John Collins tallied the three Spartan goals against the Eagles. Foerster recorded his fourth assist of 2010 in the match against Presbyterian (9/7) as he assisted on Hakeem King's goal in the 30th-minute. The Oberkirk, Germany, native leads Upstate with four assists in 2010. In the A-Sun, he is tied for second in assists per match (0.80) and is tied for third in assists. Foerster is tied for the team lead in points (4) and he needs just one more assist to match his total from the 2009 campaign.
Foerster also ranks in the NCAA's top-10 in a pair of categories. His assists per match average of 0.80, puts him in a tie for ninth-place, while his total assists mark of four, is tied for 10th nationally.
Long Live the King
Junior Hakeem King leads the Spartans in goals scored (2) and is tied for the team lead in points (4). King also finds his name in the top 10 of the A-Sun rankings in two different categories. He is tied for seventh in goals and is tied for ninth in goals per match (0.40).
The Real McCoys
After missing the entire 2009 campaign due to injury, twin brothers Chad and Chris McCoy made their return to the field in the match at Georgia Southern (9/1). Chris, who had surgery on each hip in 2008, has started all five games as a defender for Coach Hooks this season. Meanwhile, Chad had ankle surgery during the spring of 2009 and missed the '09 season due to his rehabilition. Chad, a forward, saw action in the season opening match at GSU as well as the home opener against PC (9/7).
Hear Ye! Hear Ye!: 2010 Spartan Honor Roll
Through the first few weeks of the 2010-11 academic year, the men's soccer team has had a player selected as Sprint Spartan of the Week three times (out of a possible four selections). Timo Foerester earned the first honor on Aug. 23 after scoring a goal and recording an assist in the preseason exhibition match against Spartanburg Methodist College (8/19). Hakeem King collected the second consecutive honor on Aug. 30 after scoring the game-winning goal in the 2-1 exhibition victory over Clemson (8/24). Jason McCabe became the third men's soccer player to earn the honor on Sept. 13 after helping lead the Spartans to a 1-1 draw against Presbyterian College (9/7).
Upstate Men's Soccer Fully Eligible
While Upstate men's soccer is just in its fourth year of competing on the NCAA Division I level, it is became fully eligible for postseason A-Sun and NCAA tournament play in 2009. Upstate, upon declaring its intention to move to D-I membership, tapped the men's soccer and softball teams as fast-track sports into NCAA Division I. Upstate's remaining 15 sports will become eligible beginning with the 2011-12 academic year.
Spartans Strong At Home
Since moving into County University Soccer Stadium, the Upstate men's soccer program has been tough to beat. Actually, since the inception of the program in 1980, the Spartans have been stout on the Spartanburg campus. Upstate is an impressive 58-20-6 at the friendly confines of County University Soccer Stadium for a winning percentage of .726. Overall, Upstate is 227-54-16 at home for an .791 winning percentage in Spartanburg. Upstate played its first season in the quad behind the Administrative Building prior to moving to historic Rifle Field in 1981. The Spartans (then, the Rifles) tallied a 162-30-10 record for an .802 winning percentage at Rifle Field.
Spartan Soccer - A Story Of Success
While the USC Upstate Athletics Department has had a storied history of success throughout its existence, the men's soccer program has achieved success on a more consistent level than any other program at the University. Upstate men's soccer finished third in the NAIA National Tournament three straight years from 1983-85 and made 10 NCAA Tournament appearances in 16 years in the NCAA Division II. The Spartans claimed seven regular season Peach Belt Conference championships, nine Peach Belt Conference Tournament titles, and advanced to the championship game of the league tournament 14 times in 16 years.
These Days in History
On today's game date, Sept. 22, these notable events occurred: Congress authorized the office of Postmaster-General (1789)... President Abraham Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, proposing to free all slaves of rebel states as of Jan. 1, 1863 (1862)... President John F. Kennedy signs legislation establishing the Peace Corps as a permanent government agency which could provide a new and unique weapon in the war against communism and reinvigorate U.S. foreign policy by improving the lives of people in less developed countries (1961)... The Persian Gulf conflict between Iran and Iraq erupted into full-scale war (1980)... CBS owned stations are fined $550,000 by the ( FCC )Federal Communications Commission after the Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction" during the Super Bowl half time show (2004)... Notable birthdays include: "Happy Days" and "Joanie Loves Chachi" star, Scott Baio (1960)... Brazilian Footballer, Ronaldo (1978).
On this day in Spartan history, Sept. 22, the men's soccer team records eight assists in a 11-0 victory over Anderson (9/22/97). Two years to the day, the men's soccer team accomplishes the feat again, this time the Spartans record eight assists in a 10-0 win over Piedmont (9/22/99).
On today's game date, Sept. 25, these notable events occurred: The first European to see it took a glance at what we call the Pacific Ocean. Vasco Nunez de Balboa thought he was the first to discover the large body of water. He named it the South Sea, claiming it in the name of the King of Spain (1513)... Willie Mays hit his 50th homer of the baseball season, making him the oldest player to accomplish this (he was 34 years old) (1965)... Sandra Day O'Connor became the first woman to sit on the bench of the U.S. Supreme Court. She was sworn in as the 102nd Justice (1981)... Chart toppers included: "The Safety Dance" Men Without Hats (1983)... "Good Vibrations" by Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch/Loleatta Holloway (1991)... Notable birthdays include: Actor Mark Hamil (1951)...Former Chicago Bull Scottie Pippen (1965)... Actor Will Smith (1968)... Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones (1969).
On this day in Spartan history, Sept. 25, women's soccer player Corina Torrez becomes the first Spartan to record two assists in a single-match, as Upstate wins at Converse by a score of 10-0 (9/25/02).
