Upstate Squares Off with Fifth-Seeded Jacksonville Thursday in A-Sun Men's Soccer Championship
11/4/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Spartanburg, S.C. – The USC Upstate men's soccer team begins play in the A-Sun Championship Thursday evening as it travels to Fort Myers, Fla. to take on the fifth-seeded Jacksonville Dolphins at 7 p.m. from the FGCU Soccer Complex.
Upstate enters the A-Sun Men's Soccer Championship as the fourth seed after finishing the regular season with a 5-6-1 overall record and 1-3-1 mark in the conference.
The Spartans are making their third overall trip to the A-Sun Championship and second straight after earning the fifth seed in last year's tournament. Upstate is looking for its first-ever win after falling 5-0 last season to North Florida and 1-0 to Lipscomb in 2012.
Jacksonville holds an 8-3 lead in the all-time series with the Spartans, but Upstate has won the last two contests including a 3-1 victory in Jacksonville on Oct. 3. Gordon Wild led the Spartans with two goals and an assist in the first meeting while Heiko Allmendinger added a goal. Hassan Haddad concluded the match with three saves.
Wild was one of three Upstate players recognized by the league on Wednesday as he was voted the A-Sun Freshman of the Year. Along with the Freshman of the Year honors, Wild also earned First Team All-Conference and All-Freshman Team accolades. Tucker Beerman and Leon Schwarzer joined Wild as First Team All-Conference members.
The Spartans enter postseason play tied for second in the A-Sun with Florida Gulf Coast in goals scored at 23 and ranks 26th nationally in scoring offense at 1.92 goals per game.
Wild leads the nation in goals per game, points per game, shots per game and shots on goal per game, and is second in goals. He also tops the conference in goals, points and shots. Schwarzer ranks first in the A-Sun with five assists this season. Haddad sits fourth in saves with 37.
The Dolphins currently hold a 3-11-1 record on the season and went 1-4-0 against league opponents under the direction of second-year head coach Mauricio B. Ruiz. Jacksonville is led offensively by Ejiroghene Mrabure with five goals this season, and Martin Agredo and Wayne Campbell have each dished out three assists. The Dolphins have used four goalies this year with Marc Henry tallying 26 saves and Patrick Harding 22.
Fans can follow the action on www.upstatespartans.com via live stats. The match is being streamed on ASun.TV. Updates will also be posted on the Upstate men's soccer Twitter page (@UpstateMSoccer).
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