Winthrop Wins Shootout Over Upstate in Scrimmage Action
8/24/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Spartanburg, S.C. – Winthrop scored four goals in the second half, three by Mason Lavalett alone, to overshadow the three-goal effort from USC Upstate's Marvin Schmiege and took a 5-4 victory over the Spartans in preseason scrimmage action at County University Soccer Stadium Saturday night.
Upstate cracked the scoreboard first in the 19th minute when Dave Musambi (Ottawa, Ontario) and Schmiege (Berlin, Germany) teamed up for the first of two goals for the tandem in the first half. Musambi broke through on the left side and played a ball off to Julian Feneberg (Durach, Germany) seven yards out in the middle of the box. Feneberg's shot was saved, but the rebound came off and Schmiege was there to put the shot away to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead.
Winthrop evened the match in the 20th minute after Upstate committed a foul. Winthrop took the free kick and Adam Brundle found the back of the net to tie the game.
The combination of Musambi to Schmiege worked a second time in the first half to give the Spartans a 2-1 lead in the 26th minute. Matt Flynn (Greenville, S.C.) started things off by collecting the ball toward midfield. He played a ball to Musambi in the center of the field about 25 yards out. Despite being taken on by two players, he fought through and laid a nice pass off to Schmiege in the center of the box, who put the shot away from five yards out.
Upstate added to its lead with 16 seconds left in the first half. Schmiege was again the man, recording a hat trick in the first 45 minutes of play. After a Winthrop foul on the right side of the field gave Upstate a free kick deep in Winthrop territory, Westin Lendon (Peachtree City, Ga.) sent the free kick across the goal mouth. Flynn was there for a shot that was saved by Avelar. However, the loose ball fell to the ground and Schmiege put the shot away from point blank range to give the Spartans a 3-1 lead.
Winthrop pressured Upstate throughout the first half and held a 12-6 lead in shots. However, Upstate countered effectively and converted on three of its six shots. Spartan keeper Dani Alvarado (Leander, Texas) made several diving stops to limit the Eagles.
Winthrop didn't take long to get into the scoring column in the second half, netting a goal off the foot of Mason Lavalett just 2:18 into the second 45 minutes to get the Eagles within one, 3-2. The Eagles tied the game at 3-3 in the 53rd minute when Patrick Barnes got free on the left side of the box and sent a shot into the empty net after Alvarado came off his line to make a play on the ball.
Winthrop took the lead, 4-3, in the 70th minute when Lavalett found the back of the net for his second goal of the game on a rebounded shot.
After Winthrop had taken control of the game and had momentum on its side, Musambi gave the Spartans a spark and a tie in the 77th minute. Feneberg had control of the ball and drew the keeper off his line before sliding a pass to Musambi on the right side of the box. Musambi put the shot away to tie the game at 4-4.
Lavalett came up with his hat trick on his third goal of the second half to give Winthrop the match, and, he did it in dramatic fashion with time winding down in the game. After an Upstate foul near midfield, Winthrop played the ball to the right side of the field. The ball was sent into the box and Lavalett put a header away after a flurry of touches to give the Eagles the 5-4 lead and win.
Winthrop finished the game with a 19-10 lead in shots.
Follow the Spartans on your mobile device, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
