Thursday's MatchUP
November 3, 2022 | 7:00 p.m. ET
Big South Championship Semi-Finals
No.2 USC Upstate (9-4-4, 6-2-1 Big South) vs. No.3 Radford (10-3-4, 6-2-1 Big South)
The SportsPlex | Matthews, N.C.
Upstate women's soccer prepares for the semi-finals of the Big South Conference Tournament, entering as the No.2 seed, set to play on Thursday night. Upstate's last appearance in the Big South Conference Tournament was during its first year as a Big South Competitor (2018), where the Spartans entered as the No.6 seed and defeated the No.3 seed Longwood 1-0 to advance to the semi-finals. During the semi-finals, the Spartans fell 1-0 to the No.2 seed Gardner-Webb.
How They Stack Up
USC Upstate (9-4-4) finished tied for second with Radford (10-3-4) at the end of the regular season, as both teams finished with a conference record of 6-2-1. During the regular season, Upstate claimed its first victory in Virginia when it beat Radford 2-0 in early October. The win was Upstate's second win against Radford in the series history with the first time being in the 2021 season. This win helped Upstate earn the No.2 seed in the Conference Tournament as it came down to the result of the head-to-head matchup.
Players to Watch
Upstate collected seven post season awards from the Big South Conference on Tuesday including Coach of the Year, Goalkeeper of the Year, and Freshman of the Year. Cora Brendle was named the Goalkeeper of the Year after an exceptional season where she led the conference in goals against average, save percentage, and shutouts. Dara Russo was named the Freshman of the Year after being a consistent threat to Big South opponents and leading all league freshmen in goals and game-winning goals this season. Both Brendle and Russo accumulated three weekly Big South honors this year, including back-to-back honors in October.
On top of their of the Year honors, Brendle was named to the All-Conference First Team along with senior Alaina McKnight who had a hand in Upstate's eight shutouts this season, while Russo was named to the All-Conference Second Team. Ashley Finn earned an All-Conference honorable mention for the second straight year while also earning her spot on the All-Academic Team for her efforts in the classroom.
Last Match
Upstate most recently earned its eighth shutout of the season as they tied the Runnin' Bulldogs of Gardner-Webb 0-0 in Boiling Springs, N.C. Emily Sanders and Morgan de Barros led the Spartans with one shot on goal each. Cora Brendle earned the clean sheet after playing the full 90 minutes, making seven saves on 12 shots faced.
Radford most recently beat High Point 1-0 to secure the No.3 seed in the Conference Tournament, just behind USC Upstate. High Point was aggressive out of the gate, firing six shots before Radford could even get one off, but Radford found the net first in the form of a penalty kick awarded and capitalized in the 33rd minute of play. Jorda Phillips made four saves on eight shots faced and kept the Panthers scoreless for 90 minutes.
UP Next for the Spartans
The Big South Conference Championship Finals will be played on Sunday, November 6th at 1:00 p.m. at The SportsPlex in Matthews, N.C.
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