Felipe Baeza Interview
Roberto Umana Interview
SPARTANBURG, S.C.— The USC Upstate Men's soccer team won their home opener 2-0 on Sunday afternoon against the Stetson Hatters at County University Soccer Stadium.
In the opening half of play, the Spartans played a smart, conservative style while trying to feel out their opponent. The Hatters were persistent in trying to find holes in the Spartan's defense, but the Spartan's continued to stand strong and did not allow any early opportunities.
Once the Spartans got a feel for their opponent, they began to apply some pressure of their own on the Stetson defense. The first opportunity of the half came from a free kick in the 8
th minute of the match that led to a shot by
Michael Chappelear that was just a bit too high over the goal.
USC Upstate continued the attacking pressure with
Pol Monells sending a great cross into the box to
Moss Lewis who capitalized on the opportunity with a well-executed header that put the Spartans up 1-0 in the 20
th minute. Stetson quickly felt the pressure of being down 1-0 and responded by Chris Degance taking a great shot with an even better save by USC Upstate's goalkeeper,
Felipe Baeza.
At halftime, the Spartans led the Hatters 1-0. This is the first time this season that the Spartans have led an opponent going into the half.
After the Halftime break, Stetson had a new strategy to open the half. Stetson was pushing their defenders really high up in order to keep the ball on the Spartans defending side. Coach Halkett quickly noticed this and adjusted his players accordingly. This move by Coach Halkett proved to be a beneficial one as the Spartan opportunities continued to pour in.
The Spartans
Mario Arrocha was looking to add onto the Spartans lead by sending a through ball to
Aidan Hill who took a shot at goal that was saved by Stetson's goalkeeper, Lute Lillo-Portero. The Spartans continued their attack by
Joel Bunting making a lightning-fast run down the sideline that led to a shot and another save by Lute Lillo-Portero.
The game began to intensify as both sides were desperately trying to walk away with a win. USC Upstate continued to try and build on their lead with a pass from
Solomon Constant to
Roberto Umana who shot and scored an absolute stunner of a goal outside of the 18-yard box. After scoring this beautiful goal, Umana showed off his dance moves that were almost as impressive as his goal.
"It feels amazing," Umana said. "We put in so much work in the offseason…and it was only a matter of time before our hard work paid off, it showed in this game."
The Spartans defense and goalkeeping stood strong the rest of the match and kept the shutout intact against the Hatters. This would not only be the Spartans first win of the season, but also
Felipe Baeza's first clean sheet of the season.
"The team was pretty organized today," Baeza said. "We worked on it in practice and we got the results that we wanted today."
STATS OF THE MATCH
NEXT UP:
- The Spartans will be at Eugene Stone III Soccer Stadium Saturday against Furman. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
Follow USC Upstate Men's soccer on Facebook (UpstateAthletics), Twitter (@UpstateMSoccer), Instagram (@upstatespartans) and YouTube (USCUpstateAthletics).
