Upstate Continues Season-Opening Homestand Tuesday against Liberty
9/5/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Spartanburg, S.C. – The USC Upstate men's soccer team remains at County University Soccer Stadium on Tuesday afternoon as the Spartans will play host to the Liberty Flames at 4 p.m. in a non-conference contest.
Upstate opened its regular season on August 29 with a 1-0 victory at home over the Presbyterian College Blue Hose behind Cam Philpot's first career goal as a Spartan. The game-winning goal by Philpot came in the 18th minute as Rinaldi Alphonse picked up his first assist of the season and second of his career. Playing in his first career game at Upstate, goalie Santiago Restrespo recorded his first career shutout while registering two saves.
The 1-0 win for the Spartans was their first season-opening shutout in the Division I era. Upstate last held an opponent scoreless to start a season on Aug. 28, 2005 when it also defeated Presbyterian College 1-0 in Spartanburg.
Liberty currently sits at 2-1 on the season after earning victories over Howard and VMI, while falling to William & Mary. Jovanni Chavez leads the Flames offensively with three goals for a total of seven points, and three different players have dished out two assists each. Liberty is led by 16th-year head coach Jeff Alder, who owns a 148-112-23 all-time record with the program.
The Spartans are facing the Flames for the third time in program history with the all-time series tied at 1-1. Liberty won the last meeting, 3-1, on Sept. 14, 2014 in Lexington, Va. at the Jay Sculley Memorial Tournament hosted by VMI. Upstate won the first meeting by a score of 4-0 on Oct. 22, 1980, the first year of the men's soccer program.
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 close out their three-game homestand on Saturday, Sept. 10 as they host Gardner-Webb at 7 p.m.
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