SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Spartans took their second consecutive match by a margin of three or more goals Wednesday night as USC Upstate men's soccer defeated Presbyterian College 5-1 at County University Soccer Stadium. Upstate improved to 3-2-1 (3-0-1 BSC) so far this year to continue the program's best-ever start in Big South Conference play.
The Spartans have not won more than three matches against league opponents since 2008, and tonight's win ties the 2012 team for three conference wins from when Upstate was a member of the ASUN.
Additionally, the Spartans are above .500 through six matches for the first time since 2015.
"This was a huge win for the guys. PC is a very difficult team to beat. They're a hard opponent and they come out and compete hard for the full 90 minutes. They came out in the second half and put us under a lot of pressure. We knew that was going to happen and talked about it at halftime. We told our goes they had to weather that storm and play through it, and they did. I'm happy for the boys and think they deserved this win," said head coach Scott Halkett.
Upstate's backline did a solid job controlling PC throughout the match, holding them to just two shots and one on goal. Meanwhile, the Spartans outshot PC 12-2 with seven of those shots reaching the target.
Paul Bobai notched his first goal in a Spartan uniform off a corner kick by Pol Monells to strike first at the 32:12 mark. Just three minutes later, Upstate was awarded a penalty kick which was taken by Pascal Corvino who sent the shot low to the left past the PC keeper to double Upstate's lead.
The Blue Hose would cut their deficit in half with an early second half goal, but Corvino countered that with yet another goal off another penalty kick, this time to the right side, in the 70th minute for a 3-1 Spartan lead.
In the 83rd minute, Jeremy Montero set Monells up to drive in for his fifth goal of the season. Less than a minute later, freshman Jimmy James scored his first career goal off a feed from Monells to add another security goal for Upstate, 5-1.
Scoring Summary
32' – Upstate – Paul Bobai (Assisted by Pol Monells)
35' – Upstate – Pascal Corvino (Penalty Kick)
51' – PC—Caesar Sancho (Assisted by Pedro Crespo)
70' – Upstate – Pascal Corvino (Penalty Kick)
83' – Upstate – Pol Monells (Assisted by Jeremy Montero)
84' – Upstate – Jimmy James (Assisted by Pol Monells)
Card Summary
35' – PC – Cesar Sancho (Yellow)
38' – PC – Nokkvi Nokkvason (Yellow)
50' – Upstate – Paul Bobai (Yellow)
67' – PC – Jaume Rubio (Yellow)
71' – PC – Michael Wilson (Yellow)
UP next for the Spartans
The Spartans head back out on the road on Sunday for a Big South match at Longwood beginning at 4 p.m.
Spartans Win Today, You Save Tomorrow!
Save 50% off online orders at Papa John's locations across the Upstate. Use the code USCUP50 when placing online orders the day after Upstate victories. Also tomorrow, visit The Beacon Drive-In located in Spartanburg and show the win graphic posted to the @UpstateSpartans Instagram account to claim a free sweet tea as part of the "Sweet Taste of Victory" promotion. No purchase necessary.
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