SPARTANBURG, S.C. – USC Upstate became the first team in the Big South to reach four conference wins after they downed the Longwood Lancers, 3-1 on Saturday afternoon at home. Catarina Bastos, Nya Baccelli, and Dara Russo claimed goals for the Spartans while Cora Brendle recorded four saves. The win over Longwood is the third win in a row for Upstate which hasn't been achieved since the Spartans joined the Big South Conference in 2018 and has only been done twice during their Division I era.  

The Lancers tried to size up the Spartans early as Alex Dinger claimed the first shot of the match for Longwood, but in exchange, she gave Cora Brendle her first save in the third minute of play. Upstate responded with one shot from Ellie Arnold and two shots from Ashley Finn in the 11th, 12th, and 13th minutes of play.  In the 23rd minute of play Emily Sanders took a corner kick on the far side of the field; the corner bobbled between players, but it would be Catarina Bastos who found the net and gave Upstate the 1-0 lead. The Spartans out shot the Lancers 9-2 in the first half and carried the 1-0 lead into halftime.  

Coming out of halftime, the intensity remained for both the Spartans and the Lancers. Emily Sanders took the first shot of the second half but was stopped by Longwood's goalkeeper, Mary Kate Levush. In the 59th minute of play, Sanders took the ball up the far side of the pitch, getting the Spartans into the final third of the field. Nya Baccelli received the ball from Sanders just out of the right top corner of the18-yard box and fired a rocket just under the crossbar and into the top left corner of the net. Longwood looked to battle back as they scored in the 65th minute of play to make the game 2-1. Dara Russo secured the win for USC Upstate with a goal in the 71st minute of play as she finished off a through ball into the 18-yard box from Ashley Finn.  

Following the win head coach Sharif Saber said, "Tonight was a tremendous performance from the team. There were a lot of emotional ups and downs throughout the match that the team had to endure, which they did with fantastic togetherness and poise. This was a great result for us, but we now need to focus on a very tough UNC Asheville here on Wednesday." 

 
   
Game Information   
Score: Upstate 3, Longwood 1 
Records: USC Upstate 6-3-3; 4-1-0 Big South); Longwood (4-7-3; 1-2-1 Big South)  
Location: County University Soccer Stadium | Spartanburg, S.C.  
   
How It Happened  

• 3'– Alex Dinger (LU) claimed the first shot of the match for Longwood, but in exchange, she gave Cora Brendle her first save. Cora Brendle (UPST) notched her first save of the night off Dinger's shot.  

• 11'- Ellie Arnold (UPST) claimed the first shots of the night for USC Upstate with a shot in the 11th minute of play but it was saved by Mary Kate Levush (LU) 

• 12'- Ashley Finn (UPST) recorder her first shot of the game but the Spartans were stopped by Mary Kate Levush (LU). Finn took another shot in the 13th minute of play but the shot was wide right.  

• 23'- Emily Sanders (UPST) took a corner kick on the far side of the field; the corner bobbled between players but Catarina Bastos was able to find the net and put Upstate up 1-0.  

• 24'- Nya Baccelli (UPST) tried to give Upstate a further lead and fired one to the bottom center, but Levush made the save (LU).  

• At halftime, Upstate led Longwood in shots (9-2) and corner kicks (4-3) and trailed in saves (4-1).  

• 48'- Emily Sanders (UPST) was quick to try to get Upstate's offense firing again with a shot right out of halftime, but the save was made by Levush (LU).  

• 58'- Sanders (UPST) took off with the ball up the far side of the field, to get the Upstate offense into scoring position. She found Baccelli (UPST) making she run to the top of the 18-yard box where she would receive the ball and hammer a shot into the far corner of the net to give Upstate the 2-0 lead.  

• 66'- Alex Dinger (LU) took a free kick awarded from an Upstate foul at the top of the 18-yard box. Dinger found Kyleigh Cox running towards the front post, where she made contact with the kick and made the game 2-1.  

• 71'- Ashley Finn (UPST) dribbled up the field and found Dara Russo (UPST) who made a run through the Longwood defense. Russo collected the ball and placed the ball into the lower right corner of the goal.  

• At the final whistle, Upstate was tied with Longwood in shots (14-14), but led in shots on goal (9-5), and corner kicks (6-5) while trailing in saves (6-4).  

Notable  

• Dara Russo leads Upstate with five goals, ten points, 36 shots, 17 shots on goal, and three game winning goals.  

• This is the third straight game Dara Russo has scored in.  

• Her goal tonight was Catarina Bastos' first career goal. 

• This was Nya Baccelli's second goal of the season.  

• Cora Brendle has now recorded over 50 saves (53).  

• Ashley Finn recorded a season-high five shots and three shots on goal against Longwood.   

• Emily Sanders recorded a season-high two assists tonight after assisting Nya Baccelli and Catarina Bastos. 

• This game was Upstates' second game scoring three goals since the matchup with Hampton on 8/23/22. 

UP Next for the Spartans   
Upstate will remain at County University Soccer Stadium to host UNC Asheville on Wednesday, October 12th at 7:00 p.m. 
   

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