SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Conforming to what has become commonplace in the series between Winthrop and USC Upstate, Wednesday's match lived up to the high expectations of the series as the two programs played to another wild finish at County University Soccer Stadium.
 
Heading to extra time at home for the second consecutive match, Upstate entered the locker room at half holding a two-goal advantage despite playing a man down for 31 minutes in the half. Coming out of the half, Winthrop applied additional offensive pressure on Upstate's defensive unit, turning the one-man advantage into two second-half goals.
 
With the match tied at 2-2 in the final minute, the Spartans flipped the momentum heading into full time, Upstate probed its way into the box to pepper the Eagle defense with a few shots. As the ball bounced around in the box, Upstate's junior defender Leo Vasconcelos putting a boot on the ball sending it past the threshold for the supposed walk-off winner before the goal was waved off, sending the match to extra time.
 
In the extra period, Winthrop found the golden goal in the latter minutes of the first overtime period, exiting with a 3-2 victory.
 
Game Information
Score: Winthrop 3, USC Upstate 2 (OT)
Records: USC Upstate (3-6-3; 1-2-1 Big South); Winthrop (6-4-0; 3-1-0 Big South)
Location: County University Soccer Stadium | Spartanburg, S.C.
 
How It Happened

• 9' – Finding the ball at his feet as freshman forward Alvaro Martin delivered a quick controlled touch, redshirt junior forward Mario Arrocha was fouled inside the box by Winthrop's Conor Stephens, earning a penalty kick. Stepping to the line and seeing Eagle goalkeeper Sam Jones diving to his right, Arrocha delivered a shot into the upper right corner for his sixth goal of the year—his third from the penalty spot.
• 19' – Taking a long pass from teammate Taeyoon Oh, Winthrop's Ethan Stevenson had a step on his defender just outside the 18-yard box, getting tangled with Upstate's junior defender Hayden Anderson who was issued a red card, putting the Spartans a man-down for the remainder of the match. Taking the free kick from 20 yards out atop the box, Bryant Jimenez-Pearce fired a shot with Spartan netminder Luca Bulfon diving to his left to save his team's one-goal advantage.
• 21' – Off another long pass, Winthrop got an additional great opportunity at providing the equalizer as amongst two Spartan defenders Stevenson flicked a header just over the head of a charging Bulfon. Luckily for Upstate, redshirt sophomore defender Orion McHugh was there to clear the ball off the goal line and preserve the advantage.
• 37' – Receiving a cross at the top of the six-yard box, Winthrop's Jonathan Foster whipped a header that clanged off the crossbar and back to his feet. After moving left on the initial shot attempt, Bulfon recentered himself on his line to deny the rebound attempt with a diving save toward the right post.
• 45' – Looking to create a counterattack in the final minute of the half, redshirt senior Filippo Censini delivered a long pass through the gutter on the left side, pushing the pass just past the foot of a diving Preston Floyd. Finding himself on the other end of the pass, winning the ball inside the box, sophomore midfielder Brody Williams rang a right-footed shot toward the back post and off a charging Winthrop defender to give Upstate a two-goal lead into halftime.
• 47' – On the other end of a ball thrown into the box by Censini, redshirt junior Javier Torres went diving for a header from the top of the six-yard box, denting the left woodwork with a rocket of the head.
• 68' – Probing the Upstate defense with a cross into the box, Winthrop's Ben Goodman's pass found the back heel of teammate Tyler Hornsby who delivered a quick flick down the goal line with Brigham Larsen streaking in the send the ball home for the Eagles' first goal.
• 83' – With Jayden Mace fouled inside the box, Winthrop's Larsen stepped to the penalty spot looking for Winthrop's equalizer, delivering a shot to the left as Bulfon made a diving save to his right to stonewall the attempt by Larsen. Unfortunately for Upstate, the ball deflected back toward the center of the field with Larsen charging to finish the equalizer.
• 90' – Taking a free kick from its own end with under 20 seconds remaining in regulation, Upstate eventually delivered the ball into the box where McHugh against immense pressure gets a boot on it. Aiming to clear, a Winthrop defender cleared the ball off his own teammate's waist with the ball finding the ground near the right post. Off the rebound, Vasconcelos beats Jones to the ball, pushing it across the line before the goal was waved off by the head official, sending the match to overtime.
• 98' – Receiving the ball off a quickly taken set piece, Winthrop's Stevenson delivered a cross from left to right into the box, finding Foster who flicked a header toward the right post that broke through for the golden goal.

 
Notable

• Scoring from the penalty spot in the 9', Mario Arrocha tallied his sixth goal of the season—his third via penalty kick this season. His three PK goals in 2021 are the most by a Spartan in the Division I era (2007-pres.).
• Adding a goal in the 45', Brody Williams scored his first career goal, becoming the fourth Spartan this season to collect their first career goal. He joins Hayden Anderson, Elias Ehlin, and Alvaro Martin in scoring their first career goals in 2021.
• Collecting 10 saves against Winthrop, Luca Bulfon tied a career-high as he posted his second career double-digit save match.

 
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