SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Playing with the attitude that they were playing in a Cup Final on their road to the Big South postseason, USC Upstate men's soccer took care of business Saturday night with a 5-0 victory against rival UNC Asheville.
On a senior night, all four of the Spartan seniors played crucial roles in earning the victory as all three offensive seniors—
Mario Arrocha,
Paul Bobai, and
Javier Torres—featured on the match's first goal while
Justin Hynes played 45 strong minutes in the second half to preserve the shutout.
Torres led Upstate in scoring Saturday, posting his second career brace behind goals in the fifth and sixth minutes while Bobai earned an assist on each of the Spartans' first three goals, claiming the program record for assists in a match.
Defensively, the Spartans pitched their fourth shutout of the season as the defense held Asheville to just 10 shots, with two coming on frame. All three Upstate goalies appeared in the match to earn the combined shutout.
Game Information
Score: USC Upstate 5, UNC Asheville 0
Records: USC Upstate (4-8-3; 2-3-2 Big South); UNC Asheville (1-13-1; 0-7-0 Big South)
Location: County University Soccer Stadium | Spartanburg, S.C.
How It Happened
- 5' – Playing a through ball that snuck through three UNC Asheville defenders in the box from Mario Arrocha, Paul Bobai delivered a cross to the back post to find a sliding Javier Torres, who had slipped past two additional Bulldog defenders, at the back post to drive home the match's first goal.
- 6' – Running a give-and-go with Torres, Bobai delivered another perfect pass, finding Torres on his run at the edge of the six-yard box. Against a charging Bulldog keeper, Torres delivered a chip shot to the far post, beating Leon Musial to complete his second career brace.
- 27' – Playing the ball from out-wide of the box, Bobai worked the ball back to the center of the box, finding Julian Fernandez who delivered a shot that ricocheted off the near post and down the goal line for a waiting Alvaro Martin to send the ball home at the far post.
- 53' – Taking a feed from Xavi Wences out-wide and in the open field, Jeremy Montero fired a shot from the top of the 18-yard box that caught the outstretched mitt of the Asheville keeper and deflected off the post before finding the back of the net to extend the Spartan advantage.
- 69' – Withstanding a rocket shot off from Asheville's Brian Womé, keeper Lukas O'Grady made a great save near the post before scrambling on top of the loose ball to thwart Asheville's greatest scoring chance.
- 71' – Winning the ball against a slide tackle from an Asheville defender after a flicked header pass from Jeremy Montero, Alex Ljusberg tallied his first career goal with a chip shot from roughly 15 yards out-wide, floating overtop the Bulldog keeper and into the net.
Notable
- Tallying assists on each of Upstate's first three goals, Paul Bobai's three assists mark a program record for assists in a match.
- Scoring goals in the fifth and sixth minutes, Javier Torres secured his second career multi-goal game with a brace—his first since posting a brace against Liberty in 2019.
- Scoring the Spartans' final goal, Alex Ljusberg became the fifth Spartan to score their first career goal this season, joining Hayden Anderson, Elias Ehlin, Alvaro Martin, and Brody Williams in scoring their first career goal.
- Tallying an assist on Alvaro Martin's goal, Julian Fernandez secured his first career assist.
- Coming on in the 81st minute, goalkeeper Robert Bailey made his USC Upstate debut.
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