Upstate Closes Out A-Sun Road Play at Northern Kentucky Wednesday Evening
10/30/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
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Spartanburg, S.C. - The USC Upstate men's soccer team hopes to avoid the ghosts and goblins on Halloween as the Spartans will travel to Northern Kentucky for its final A-Sun road game of the season. The match, which starts at 6:00 p.m. Wednesday evening, could have serious ramifications in determining who gets one of three remaining spots in the upcoming A-Sun Tournament (Nov. 7-11).
Upstate enters the game with a 5-8-1 overall record and a 3-3-0 mark with nine points in the A-Sun. The Spartans have won three of their last five A-Sun games. They are currently in the fourth position for tournament purposes with Northern Kentucky ineligible for the tournament during its transition period to Division I. Upstate will end the regular season at home Saturday night at 7:00 against ETSU.
Northern Kentucky enters the game with a 6-9-1 overall record and a 3-2-1 mark with 10 points in the league. The Norse have won four of their last six games. The game will be the first meeting between the two schools.
Fans can follow the action online at upstatespartans.com with links to free live stats. A complete game recap and statistics will be available following the completion of the game.
Looking Back at Mercer
Mercer attacked early and often, but the Upstate defense withstood the attack to keep the Bears scoreless in the first half. With less than two minutes to play in the opening period, senior Matt Begley scored his first career goal to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead. Upstate would hold the lead until the 78th minute when the Bears struck on a goal by Carl-Oscar Andersson. Three minutes later, Ehyjayson Henry scored to give the Bears a 2-1 lead and, eventually, the match.
Records Reached with Win at Lipscomb
With its tough 1-0 victory at Lipscomb last Sunday, Upstate tied and broke Division I era wins records. The Spartans reached five overall wins, tying the 2009 and 2011 squads for the most wins since moving to Division I in 2007. The three league wins are the most since moving to the A-Sun in 2007 as well.
Tourney Time is Drawing Near
With two games remaining in the regular season for Upstate, the push to grab one of six spots in the upcoming A-Sun Tournament is getting interesting. Three teams - Mercer, ETSU and Florida Gulf Coast - have clinched a spot in the tournament. Four teams, including the Spartans, are playing for the remaining three positions. Basically, if Upstate gets one point in the next two matches, it will clinch a spot in the tournament. Jacksonville, in seventh position right now, has six points with one match to go. If Upstate secures a point, there would be no way of Jacksonville jumping the Spartans for one of the tournament spots. Depending on results from the other three teams, there is still room for Upstate to make the tournament with its current nine points. Lipscomb and Stetson each have seven points and are in the fifth and sixth positions for the tournament. Upstate currently maintains the No. 4 position for tournament seeding purposes.
