Spartanburg, S.C. – Rinaldi Alphonse's redirected goal late in the second half spelled the difference as the USC Upstate men's soccer team claimed a 2-1 victory over Bob Jones in very wet conditions Thursday night at County University Soccer Stadium.

The win was the second for the Spartans in two exhibition games of the preseason. The Spartans will be back in action Tuesday night at 7 against Bluefield in their final exhibition game of the preseason.

After playing for nearly 15 minutes without either team taking a shot, Upstate cracked the scoreboard. James Campbell battled for the ball in the box, gained control about six yards out and shaded to the right of the goal. After drawing the keeper off his line, he played a pass to Lukas Sommer who put the shot away into open goal for an early 1-0 Spartan lead.

A miscue in the Spartan back allowed Bob Jones to tie the game in the 24^th minute. An Upstate defender lost possession of the ball and Karl Walker gained control. He took a couple of touches before taking a long shot from 25 yards out, bending a shot into the upper right 90 for the equalizer.

Upstate goalkeeper Hassan Haddad came up with a pair of great saves as the first half wound down to keep the game tied at 1-1. The first came after a foul was called on the Spartans and Ryan McCarty hammered a shot from 20 yards out that Haddad punched out in the 29^th minute. Five minutes later, he made another tremendous save when he deflected another hard shot, this time from 13 yards out.

The team battled a heavy rain shower for most of the second half with neither team able to put a serious scoring threat together. That changed in the 74^th minute when the rain stopped. Upstate's Gordon Wild led a 3-on-2 attack and narrowly missed the go-ahead goal when his shot slid left of the goal post. A minute later, new Spartan keeper Davis Smith made a diving save to keep the Bruins off the board.

Alphonse then struck to lift Upstate to the win in the 78^th minute. After Bob Jones was called for a foul near the left sideline about 23 yards out. Dustin Bailey took the free kick and curved a shot toward the far post. Alphonse redirected the shot into the right side of the net to give the Spartans a 2-1 lead and, eventually, the win.

Upstate led in shots, 13-9, for the game. Smith did not allow a goal in his 45 minutes of work in the net for the Spartans.