Spartanburg, S.C.— The USC Upstate men's soccer team will be back in action at County University Soccer Stadium in a Big South Conference matchup against the Longwood Lancers on Saturday, October 12^th at 7:00 p.m.
 
The USC Upstate Spartans (2-8) and the Longwood Lancers (5-5) will face off for the second time in program history. The all-time series between the Lancers and Spartans are tied at (0-0-1) with the first meeting in program history resulting in a 2-2 tie last season. Both the Spartans and Lancers are winless in Big South Conference play and desperately need a win to boost their chances of making the conference tournament.
 
The Spartans are coming off of a loss against Gardner-Webb that was decided by a goal scored in the final minutes of the match. This would be sixth time this season the Spartans would fall by just single goal and the fifth time a loss resulted from an overtime goal or by a goal scored in the final minutes of the match.
 
The first half of play against Gardner-Webb seemed promising as the Spartans did not allow a shot on goal in the first half. The Spartans had a first-half total of 12 shots with 5 of those shots on goal but the Spartans were not able to capitalize on them.
 
In the second half, things began to balance out with both teams not attempting as many shots. Despite the Spartans out-shooting the Bulldogs 21-5, the Bulldogs were able to pull away in the final minutes of the match and capitalize on one of their few attempts on goal to win the game 1-0 over the Spartans and continued their perfect record in the Big South Conference. Michael Chappelear was able to record six shots and Luca Bulfon added one save to his season total of 29 saves.
 
The Longwood Lancers are coming off an overtime win over the Wofford Terriers and improve their record to (5-5). Despite having a .500 record, the Lancers still have yet to win a conference match with a record of 0-2 in the Big South. Longwoods top goal-scorer is Mikel Abando, who has netted 7 goals for the Lancers. In goal for the Lancers is Jacob Reimers, who has totaled 40 saves this season. The Lancers are led by head coach Jon Atkinson in his 16^th season.
 
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