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Ft. Myers, Fla. – In a match that saw the teams combine for just five shots on goal, a Florida Gulf Coast goal midway through the first half spelled the difference as the Eagles took a 1-0 victory over USC Upstate in an A-Sun men's soccer match Friday night at the FGCU Soccer Complex.
Upstate fell to 3-7-1 overall and 1-2-0 with three points in the A-Sun. The Spartans will remain in Florida and take on Stetson Sunday afternoon at 1:00 pm. FGCU improved to 4-5-2 overall and 1-1-1 with four points in the conference.
Upstate didn't have many scoring opportunities in the first half, taking just two shots in what was a battle to gain possession away from Florida Gulf Coast. Both of the Spartans' shots were wide of the goal. FGCU took eight shots in the opening half, but only two were on frame.
FGCU cracked the scoreboard in the 28th minute when Aaron Guillen gained possession of the ball in the box and played a pass back to Rodrigo Saravia at the top of the box. Saravia put the shot away in the right side of the goal from 15 yards out to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.
The offensive action picked up in the second half for the Spartans. Upstate got two shots off in the first six minutes, both blocked by FGCU defenders. The best opportunity of the night for Upstate came in the 78th minute when Dustin Bailey (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) was fed a pass and placed a shot on goal. However, FGCU goalkeeper Nathan Ingham made a terrific save to keep the Spartans off the scoreboard. The Spartans could not get a shot off the rest of the match as FGCU took the 1-0 win.
FGCU finished with the lead in shots for the game, 12-7.
"I thought it was a real even game until they scored their goal. They dictated a lot of the play after they scored. In the second part of the second half, we created some legitimate chances. Their keeper made a great save on Dustin's shot. We missed a few chances early. We played hard, but they are a very good team. We just have to find a way of breaking through on these one-goal games. Florida Gulf Coast does a great job of possessing the ball. They keep possession so much that you end up chasing the ball around the field. It is hard to push up on offense and create opportunities consistently when that happens. We had our chances, particularly in the first half, but we just couldn't put anything across," said Upstate head coach Greg Hooks.
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