SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Two teams with 3 game win streaks enter, one team leaves on a 4-game streak…unless there's a tie. The USC Upstate Spartans are on the road again Saturday for a Big South conference matchup with the red-hot Winthrop Eagles.
The Spartans and Eagles boast the two longest win-streaks in the league at three. Upstate's win streak has come against all Big South opponents (Presbyterian, Longwood, Gardner-Webb) while Winthrop has two wins against conference foes during their run (Longwood, UNC Asheville, College of Charleston).
Upstate controls their own destiny in the Big South conference race as they currently sit at 3
rd in the conference standings. Winthrop needs things to go their way, but they are doing their part, winning three straight after opening the season 0-11-0.
The MatchUP
Who: USC Upstate (5-5-3, 3-1-1 Big South) at Winthrop (3-11-0, 2-4 Big South)
Where: Eagle Field, Rock Hill S.C.
When: 1:00 p.m. October 22
Series History
Upstate's series with Winthrop is an interesting one. Overall, the Spartans trail 3-6-0. The series is even at 2-2 as Big South opponents, but the home/away record is interesting. The Spartans are 0-2 at home vs Winthrop, but both wins have come in Rock Hill. Historically, there has been a lot of offense in this matchup as the two teams combine to average 6.75 goals per match when on the field against each other.
Last Match
Both teams are coming off 1 goal wins, Winthrop being a 1-0 shutout win over the College of Charleston while Upstate just took down Gardner-Webb 2-1 on the road.
The Six Degrees
The two teams have 8 common opponents on the year. They are Georgia State, South Carolina, Furman, Gardner-Webb, Campbell, Radford, Longwood and College of Charleston. Upstate is 3-4-1 in those matchups, scoring 12 goals to the opponents 7 in those matchups. Winthrop is 2-6-0 in those same matches, scoring 6 goals to the opposing teams' 22.
Players to Watch
We'll start this section off with a slight stat correction. While
Jeremy Montero does in fact have an assist in two straight matches (vs Longwood, vs Gardner-Webb) his streak actually dates back one game further as he connected with Andrin Zumbuhl for a goal in the 5-3 win vs Presbyterian. He's the first Spartan to have an assist in three straight matches since Pol Monells had an assist in four straight matches in Spring of 2021. Both Montero and Zumbuhl are in line to create some fireworks vs Winthrop.
Brody Williams has yet to start a match this season, but he's been highly effective coming off the bench for the Spartans, tallying three goals and an assist in 376 minutes of action this season.
Felipe Marty remains one of the Spartan's exciting weapons and has now scored on a free kick, a penalty kick and recorded an assist on a corner kick this season.
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Want to be a ball kid for USC Upstate Soccer? Kids ages 10 and up can help the Spartans all season long by retrieving game balls on the sidelines during home men's and women's soccer matches at County University Soccer Stadium. Click here for more details.
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