Schmiege Leads Spartans to Dominant Win Over North Greenville
8/26/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Spartanburg, S.C. – USC Upstate's dominant offensive showing in the preseason continued Monday night in a 5-0 victory over North Greenville in a scrimmage game at County University Soccer Stadium.
Monday's game was the final preseason scrimmage for the Spartans this year. Upstate will open the regular season on the road Friday night at 7:00, taking on Presbyterian in Clinton, S.C.
Marvin Schmiege (Berlin, Germany), who turned in a standout preseason, got Upstate on the board in the 19th minute, notching his sixth goal of the preseason. He was played a ball into the top of the box. After volleying the ball and being pushed from behind a couple of times, he regained control of the ball, moved to his right, and put the shot away for a 1-0 Spartan lead.
After a North Greenville player was issued a red card for kicking an Upstate player in the head, the Spartans applied more pressure on the Crusader defense. The pressure got to NGU and Upstate was awarded a penalty kick after a foul in the box. Dave Musambi (Ottawa, Ontario) converted to give the Spartans a 2-0 lead in the 40th minute.
Upstate owned a 5-2 lead in shots over North Greenville in the first half.
Upstate didn't waste any time changing the score in the second half. Eli Cothran (Walhalla, S.C.) took the ball down the right side and played a cross to the goal mouth where Schmiege put the shot away for a 3-0 Upstate lead just three minutes into the game. It was Schmiege's second goal of the game and seventh of the preseason.
Rinaldi Alphonse (Palmetto, Ga.), a freshman trying to work his way into the lineup, gave Upstate a 4-0 cushion in the 58th minute. After the ball was played into the box and headed a few times by both teams, Alphonse came down with the ball and put the shot into the back of the net.
Upstate ended the scoring with five minutes remaining in the match. Applying more pressure on North Greenville's defense, Sam Moss (Williamston, S.C.) found the back of the net from the left side to give the Spartans a 5-0 lead. Upstate finished the game with an 11-2 advantage in shots.
Upstate finished the preseason having scored 15 goals, seven alone from Schmiege. Upstate scored no less than four goals in each of the three matches, scoring a preseason-high six against Newberry on Aug. 21.
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