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

Box Score (PDF)

FLORENCE, S.C. – The USC Upstate women's soccer team held the Francis Marion offensive attack at bay early, but the Patriots rallied to take down the Spartans 4-0 at Hartzler field in non-conference action Friday.

The Patriots improve to 3-2-1 and avoid back-to-back losses for the first time on the year, while the Spartans' struggles on the road continue, falling to 1-5 on the season.

The Spartans put together the first offensive attack of the contest in the fifth minute, when Michelle Calmeyn fired a shot from the top of the box that was snagged by Francis Marion goalkeeper Taylor O'Berry to keep the game scoreless in the opening minutes.

The Patriots would take over from there and control the tempo for the rest of the half, testing Upstate stopper Sarah Plantz at every turn.

FMU appeared to take the lead in the 17th minute, when Dominique Evans lined up a free kick just outside the box and curled the shot inside the left post, but the head referee whistled an offsides on a deflection to keep the Patriots off the board.

Francis Marion continued to apply pressure to the Spartan back line and Plantz was up for every challenge, making save after save and keeping the contest scoreless.

FMU's Elizabeth Asare changed the game in the 37th minute, when she made a run and drew a foul in the box from Erika Kotterer to award a penalty kick to the Patriots. Yasmin Bunter stepped up to take the penalty kick and drilled the attempt towards the left post. Plantz made a diving attempt for a save and got a hand on the ball, but was unable to make the stop, giving the Patriots a 1-0 lead with less than 10 minutes remaining in the opening half.

Francis Marion would continue to push forward on its attack, attempting four more shots in the first half, but Plantz picked up two saves, while the other two attempts were wide of the mark, sending the match to intermission with the Patriots clinging to a 1-0 advantage.

Play started to open up in the second half and the Spartans created some space, but were unable to produce any quality shots on goal.

FMU would add to its lead at the 64:26 mark, when Butler dribbled in the box, played a perfect touch pass in the middle and Chanel Harris connected with a shot to the wide open net. The score for Harris was her second of the season, while Butler tallied her third assist of the contest after scoring her third goal of the year in the first half.

Harris went right back to work nine minutes later when she dribbled through a trio of defenders and fired a shot past a diving Plantz to give the sophomore her second goal of the game. The Patriots put a lid on the scoring in the 88th minute when Sandy Odembo lined up for a corner and curled the shot inside the far post to give FMU a 4-0 advantage, a lead that held true to the final buzzer.

The Patriots held a 17-2 lead in shots and 5-1 advantage in corner kicks. Plantz tallied eight saves in goal for the Spartans, while O'Berry recorded the shutout with just one save for Francis Marion.

The Spartans return to action on Tuesday evening, welcoming Gardner-Webb to town for a contest that was originally slated for Sept. 4, but was rescheduled due to inclement weather. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. at County University Stadium.

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