Box Score Game Box (PDF)
Spartanburg, S.C. – The USC Upstate men's soccer team got a goal from Marvin Schmiege in the first half, but Northern Kentucky scored twice in the second half to take a 3-1 victory over the Spartans in the season finale for both teams.
Upstate honored five seniors prior to the start of the match, applauding the dedication of Akin Adediji, Derek Dearmond, James Hadley, Michael Rankin-Byrne and Spencer Woodstock for their efforts in the program.
Upstate owned the possession throughout the opening minutes of the first half, pressuring the NKU defense for the first 12 minutes. The Norse began to settle in and scored the game's first goal in the 17th minute. Brendan Murphy played a through ball to Clan McDonald who put the shot away from 12 yards out on the right side of the box for a 1-0 Norse lead.
Upstate battled back and had two great scoring opportunities in the 31st and 32nd minutes. The first came after NKU was called for a foul and Akin Adediji took the free kick and played a cross from the right to the far post where Taylor Scalera placed a header that clipped the crossbar. Less than a minute later, Michael Rankin-Byrne got free about 15 yards out on the left side of the box and hammered a shot that went just wide left of the goal.
After putting together several opportunities to score, Upstate got the equalizer with just under eight minutes to play in the first half. Tevin Gage gained possession on the right side of the field and moved slightly toward the middle of the field. He played a curving cross toward the far post where Schmiege put away the header to tie the score at 1-1.
Upstate finished the first half with a 5-3 lead in shots.
NKU pressed early in the second half and held possession early on. The pressure paid off in the 58th minute when Murphy gained possession of the ball in the middle of the field about 30 yards out. He dribbled forward and created space, firing a shot from 25 yards out that found the back of the net to give the Norse a 2-1 lead.
With Upstate battling to tie the game again, NKU put the game away with under 10 minutes to play. After Upstate cleared the ball from its box, Nicholas Chiarot took possession, turned and placed a shot into the right side of the net to give the Norse a 3-1 lead with 9:33 to play.
Upstate had a couple of scoring opportunities in the remaining minutes but could not crack the scoreboard. NKU finished the game with a 13-7 lead in shots. Upstate's Dani Alvarado came up with four saves on the night.
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