Upstate Hosts Presbyterian College in Season Opener
8/28/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Spartanburg, S.C. – The USC Upstate men's soccer team opens its 2016 season Monday evening as the Spartans host the Presbyterian College Blue Hose at 7 p.m. from County University Soccer Stadium.
Upstate opens its regular season after playing three home exhibition games from Aug. 15-22, posting a 2-0-1 record with wins over Spartanburg Methodist and Newberry. The Spartans also tied Bluefield College during their exhibition season. It marked the third straight undefeated preseason for Upstate after going 2-0-1 last year and 3-0 in 2014.
The Spartans return 10 letterwinners from last year's team, including five starters, which made an appearance in the ASUN Tournament championship game for the first time in program history. Upstate also welcomes in a total of 19 newcomers to the 2016 squad.
The Spartans were recently picked to finish in sixth place by the league's head coaches in the ASUN Preseason Poll, as well as, Lukas Sommer being voted to the Preseason All-Conference Team.
Presbyterian College enters the game with a 0-1 record after falling in its season opener, 3-2 in double overtime, last Friday at Wofford. The Blue Hose are under the direction of first-year head coach Jonathan Potter.
Upstate and Presbyterian College will be meeting for the 27th time in program history on Monday in a series that dates back to the 1980 season. The Spartans lead the all-time series 18-6-3 including a 5-2-1 mark since moving to Division I. Upstate scored a Division I era record seven goals last season in a 7-0 victory at Presbyterian College, and marked just the third time since 2010 that an ASUN team scored six goals in a game.
Fans can follow the action on www.upstatespartans.com via live stats. The game is being streamed on ASUN.TV. Updates will also be posted on the Upstate men's soccer Twitter page (@UpstateMSoccer).
The Spartans remain at home on Tuesday, Sept. 6 as it hosts Liberty at 4 p.m.
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