SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The USC Upstate men's soccer team suffered its first conference loss of the season 2-1 Saturday evening at the hands of No. 20 High Point in front of a hefty crowd at County University Soccer Stadium. After a stalemate first half, High Point netted two goals in three minutes early in the second half and the Spartans were only able to come up with one goal to answer.
Prior to kickoff, the three Spartan seniors – Pol Monells, Felipe Baeza, Josh Wood – were honored in a midfield ceremony. At halftime, as part of homecoming festivities, all USC Upstate men's soccer alumni in attendance were recognized as the Spartans celebrated the 40th anniversary of the men's soccer program.
"Overall, I'm disappointed with the loss tonight. It was such a close game. The difference was some fine little details. We did good in and around the box, but couldn't find that final pass and get the right shot off. It was a great game, and I'm proud of the guys. They left everything out on the field. I'm proud of the effort the guys put in, and I think it's going to go a long way in pushing us to take that next step to be able to beat teams like this. We're going to learn from it and get better," said head coach Scott Halkett.
The contest was pretty evenly matched as Upstate outshot High Point 15-12, and both teams put five shots on goal. Each team also had a pair of corner kicks, all of them coming in the second half.
The Spartans did a great job of breaking up High Point chances in the first half, and they went on to outshoot the Panthers 10-3 in the second half, picking up the pressure in the final minutes to try and find the equalizer.
Monells had an early opportunity for the Spartans with a shot 15 seconds into the match, but he sailed the shot high. After that, the ball stayed around midfield for a while as neither team could quite gain solid possession.
Ten minutes in, Monells sent a good cross pass into the box but it was scooped up by the High Point keeper. About five minutes later, Jeremy Montero threw a shot on goal and seconds later Pascal Corvino tried to net the rebound, but it was broken up by High Point defenders.
Hayden Anderson and Elias Ehlin each shut down a pair of High Point chances midway through the half, and Baeza made a save on a long Panther shot in the 22nd minute.
The Spartans started the second half off with a solid shot from Mario Arrocha that was deflected out for an Upstate corner kick.
Shortly after, High Point broke through first in the 53rd minute as Ashton Perkins found the back of the net with some help from Nick Phipps. Three minutes later, Perkins doubled High Point's lead with just his second goal of the year.
In the 64th minute, Monells was taken down in the box by the High Point keeper and was awarded a penalty kick. He beat the keeper in the top right corner to cut Upstate's deficit in half. The Spartans would not let up the pressure in the game, but were not able to convert on any chances late.
Scoring Summary
53' – High Point – Ashton Perkins (Assisted by Nick Phipps)
56' – High Point – Ashton Perkins
64' – Upstate – Pol Monells (Penalty Kick)
Card Summary
58' – Upstate – Mario Arrocha (Yellow)
64' – High Point – Holden Trent (Yellow)
74' – Upstate – Justin Hynes (Yellow)
UP next for the Spartans
The Spartans close out the regular season with a trip to Gardner-Webb on Saturday, April 3. Kickoff is set is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. against the Bulldogs.
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