Upstate Faces Florida Gulf Coast Saturday in A-Sun Championship Semifinals
11/6/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Spartanburg, S.C. – The USC Upstate men's soccer team looks to make its first-ever trip to the finals of the A-Sun Championships on Saturday as it faces top-seeded Florida Gulf Coast in the semifinals at 7 p.m. from the FGCU Soccer Complex.
Upstate (6-6-1) booked its ticket into the semifinals Wednesday evening with a 3-2 overtime victory against Jacksonville during first round action.
Leon Schwarzer scored two goals to lead the Spartans offensively, becoming just the 18th player in Championship history to score twice in a single match. Schwarzer scored the final two Upstate goals as it trailed 2-1 with less than 20 minutes remaining in the contest. The sophomore midfielder tied the game for the Spartans with his penalty kick in the 83rd minute, and then scored the golden goal game-winner in the 98th minute.
Gordon Wild notched Upstate's first-ever A-Sun Championship goal in the 41st minute to send the Spartans into halftime tied 1-1. Wild enters the semifinals tied for the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer scoring lead with 15 goals on the season.
Florida Gulf Coast currently sits at 7-3-3 overall and earned a share of the A-Sun Regular Season Championship as well as the number one seed in the tournament. The Eagles are under the direction of ninth-year head coach Bob Butehorn. Albert Ruiz and Dylan Sacramento lead FGCU offensively with six goals each while Kamar Marriott has dished out four assists. Goalie Nathan Ingham has posted 34 saves this season for a .872 save percentage and allowed five goals to go with a 0.44 goals against average mark.
The Eagles lead the all-time series over Upstate 8-0-1 including a 4-0 victory in Spartanburg on Oct. 24.
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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