FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: David Beall, dbeall@uscupstate.edu

Box Score (PDF)

LYNCHBURG, Va. – The USC Upstate women's soccer team surrendered a pair of goals in each half on Sunday afternoon and fell 4-0 to the Liberty University Flames in non-conference action at Osborne Stadium.

The Spartans (1-3) continue to struggle, dropping their third straight contest and both ends of a weekend road trip up the East Coast, while Liberty (2-2) gets back on track for the first time since its season-opening victory at Davidson.

Before the Spartans could register a shot, the Flames put together all the offense they would need with goals in the 11th minute and 18th minute to jump on top early.

Crystal Elmers scored what would serve as the game-winner at the 10:21 mark, when she found herself in a break away and tapped home her second goal of the season.

Less than seven minutes later Helena Pereira doubled the Liberty lead on another break away and the Flames cruised into intermission with a two-goal advantage.

The defense for both squads took center stage in the second half as neither team was able to score over the first 30 minutes of the final period. Liberty finally broke through and added to its lead in the 74th minute, when a cross in the box was tipped around and finally finished by Rebecca Smith for her first goal of the season.

The Flames added one more goal in the final minute of action and picked up the 4-0 victory with a pair of goals in each half.

The Spartans managed five shots, two of which came off the foot of Courtney Reilly, while Kayli Moore, Katrina Savoy and Courtney Deblois all recorded a single shot for Upstate.

For the second straight game Upstate goalkeeper Sarah Plantz stayed busy between the posts with nine saves, but she allowed all four goals and suffered her third loss of the year. Karen Blocker made a pair of saves for the Flames to record the shutout victory.

The Spartans will look to get back on track next week when they welcome UNC Asheville to town for a non-conference showdown Thursday evening at County University Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.

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