Greenville, S.C.- The USC Upstate men's soccer team fell to Furman 4-1 in a hard-fought battle at Eugene Stone Soccer Stadium on Saturday night.   
 
The first half of play was filled with shots on both sides of the ball. Furman was persistent in their attacking early with a shot by Shaun-Chris Joash in the 4th minute of the match that saved by Felipe Baeza. Baeza continued to stand strong in goal as Joash had another shot in the 21st minute that was saved again.
 
The Spartans defense remained strong within the first 30 minutes of the match keeping the score 0-0. The Spartans were caught off guard with a goal by Conor Sloan that was shot to the lower right corner to put the Paladins up 0-1.
 
At the halftime break, the Spartans trailed 0-1 to the Paladins. This would prove to be a physical first half as there were 19 fouls called and 1 yellow card issued.
 
After the halftime break, the Paladins were off to a quick start as Furman's top goal scorer, Cole McLagan netted a goal from a free-kick that would put the Paladins up 0-2. USC Upstate continued their effort to try to make a comeback as Pol Monells shot just barely missed and hit the post instead. Furman continued to put pressure on USC Upstate as Joash scored another goal for the Paladins to put them up 0-3.
 
Despite being down 0-3, the Spartans continued to show a strong offensive performance as they were rewarded a corner kick that was taken by Mario Arrocha. Arrocha sent a cross into Joel Bunting who capitalized on this opportunity with a header to the left corner of the goal to make the score 1-3.
 
Bunting seemed to spark life into the Spartan offense as Arrocha continued his pressure on the Paladin defense by attempting a shot that was saved by Ben Hale. Monells challenged the Paladins goalkeeper again with another shot that was saved again by Hale. Roberto Umana and Michael wanted in on the offensive action as they had a pair of shots that were just a bit wide of the net.
 
With the Spartans pushing numbers up to try and equalize the score, the Paladins took advantage and scored their fourth goal of the night. The goal ended the Spartans comeback hopes as they fell 4-1.
 
 
STATS OF THE MATCH:

• Felipe Baeza recorded 3 saves
• USC Upstate committed 18 total fouls
• Furman committed 27 total fouls
• Six Yellow cards were issued

 
NEXT UP:

• The Spartans will be at County University Soccer Stadium Tuesday, September 24^th against Mercer. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

 
 Follow USC Upstate Men's soccer on Facebook (UpstateAthletics), Twitter (@UpstateMSoccer), Instagram (@upstatespartans) and YouTube (USCUpstateAthletics).