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Spartanburg, S.C. – Conference leader Mercer scored two goals in the final 13 minutes of play to steal a 2-1 victory away from USC Upstate Sunday afternoon in A-Sun men's soccer action at County University Soccer Stadium.
Upstate fell to 5-8-1 overall and 3-3-0 with three points in the A-Sun with the loss. The Spartans are still in position to claim one of six spots in the upcoming A-Sun Tournament with two games remaining. Mercer, which has already clinched a spot in the tournament, improved to 11-5-1 overall and 6-1-0 with 18 points in the league.
For the biggest part of the second half, it looked like Upstate would hold on to claim the victory over the league-leading Bears. Matt Belgey (Summerville, S.C.) notched his first career goal to give Upstate a 1-0 lead in the first half. However, Mercer found a way to take the win on goals from Carl-Oscar Andersson and Ehyjayson Henry.
"They put a lot of pressure on us to score a goal late in the game," said Upstate head coach Greg Hooks. "You really can't complain about the halftime with only taking one shot. I am really happy for Matt Begley. He is a wonderful student-athlete and I'm glad he was able to get a goal. But, we were just not able to withstand their pressure."
Upstate dodged a bullet early in the game and Akin Adediji (Cedar Park, Texas) saved a goal for the Spartans. After Mercer stole possession deep in Upstate territory, Henry moved around a charging Dani Alvarado (Leander, Texas) and put a shot on goal from a tough angle on the left. However, Adediji was there to kick the ball over the end line and save a goal.
Mercer's Richie Edmondson was active early and got free for a couple of shots from 13 yards out early in the half as well. However, Alvarado made a huge diving save on his first shot and Edmondson's second shot went wide of the goal as the score remained 0-0 15 minutes into the match.
Other than a couple of counterattacks that were broken up prior to the Spartans getting a shot off, Upstate could not get anything going in the first 25 minutes of the game. In fact, it took Upstate nearly 33 minutes to get its first shot off, a shot that went wide of the goal off of the foot of Taylor Scalera (Dacula, Ga.).
Despite Mercer dictating the offense for much of the first half, Upstate came through in the final 10 minutes of the period and was the first to crack the scoreboard. With less than two minutes to play in the half, Spencer Woodstock (Miami, Fla.) played a ball back to Begley at the top of the box. Begley found some open space and placed a shot on goal. The ball barely deflected off of a Mercer player's foot and went into the right side of the goal to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead. The goal was the first of Begley's career. He had taken just four shots on the season prior to the goal, and six in his career.
From 10 minutes left in the first half through the first 25 minutes of the second half, Upstate was the aggressor offensively. Dave Musambi (Ottawa, Ontario) nearly made it a 2-0 game in the 63rd minute when he fired a shot from 12 yards out. The bullet shot was saved by Mercer goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh.
Upstate dodged another Mercer bullet in the 70th minute when Edmondson took a deflection on the right side of the box and fired a shot toward goal. Alvarado had come off his line and was out a good 15 yards. He managed to get his hands on the shot. However, the deflection came back to Edmondson, who then fired a shot that went wide of the goal.
Alvarado came up big again for Upstate, saving a hard shot from Juan Jose Morales with a little more than 17 minutes to play in regulation.
Mercer finally cracked the scoreboard in the 78th minute when Edmondson played a cross to the top of the box. Andersson was there to receive the pass and fired a shot into the goal to tie the game at 1-1. A minute later, Mercer nearly took a 2-1 lead, but Edmondson's header hit the crossbar and the follow-up shot from Brady O'Brien was saved by Alvarado.
Mercer took a 2-1 lead in the 81st minute. Capitalizing on the shift in momentum, Andersson played a cross to the goal mouth where Henry took the pass and put a header into the net to give the Bears the advantage.
Mercer managed to continue to put pressure on Upstate for the remainder of the game. The pressure did not allow Upstate to mount any solid offensive opportunity in the final 10 minutes of the game as the Bears held on for the win.
Mercer outshot Upstate 16-5 for the game. The Bears put 10 of their 16 shots on goal. Upstate placed two of its five shots on frame. Alvarado was strong in goal, finishing with eight saves and thwarting several crosses in front of the goal mouth. Ranjitsingh made just one save for the Bears.
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