SPARTANBURG, S.C. – A matchup so nice, they had to play it twice as the USC Upstate Spartans travel to High Point for the Big South Championship semifinals.
               The Spartans enter the conference tournament with a 6-5-5 record, an impressive turnaround after going 0-4-1 to start the season. They earned the three seed in the conference with a 4-1-3 record in Big South play this year, their best finish in conference play since the 2020 season. Upstate enters the postseason on a 6-game unbeaten streak (4-0-2), their longest such streak in the D-1 era.
               They are on the road to take on a High Point team that they just tied 1-1 one match ago. The Panthers are the only team in the Big South to not lose a conference match this season and hold a 5-0-3 record going into Sunday's semi-final.
               Both teams have squared off in the post season before, with the Spartans falling to the Panthers 3-1 in the 2020 Big South championship match
 
The MatchUP
Who: USC Upstate (6-5-5, 4-1-3 Big South) at High Point (8-4-5, 5-0-3 Big South)
Where: Vert Stadium, High Point N.C.
When: 6:00 p.m.
 
Series History
The Spartans are still searching for their first win against High Point as the Panthers lead the series 6-0-3. The last two meetings have been 1-1 ties, with the latest coming just a week ago. Two of the three ties in the series have been at High Point, but only one team can walk to the championship round Sunday.
 
Last Match
Both teams are coming off of wins in the final game of the regular season. Upstate took to the road and came back with a 2-1 win at UNC Asheville, while High Point hosted a Longwood and earned a 3-0 win.
 
The Six Degrees
The two teams have played 9 common opponents this season. Upstate has a 5-2-2 record in those matches while High Point went 6-1-2. Upstate notched 19 goals to their opponents 15. High Point earned a 22-6 differential in their matches.
 
Players to Watch
No surprise here, but the top Spartan to keep an eye on is Filippo Censini, who saw his first action of the season vs UNC Asheville. A Spartan backline consisting of some sort of combination of Censini, Kasper Jorgensen, Felipe Marty, Julian Fernandez and Carson Hickok will hope to keep the pressure off of Luca Bulfon. Offensively, Andrin Zumbuhl and Jeremy Montero will need to produce opportunities for the Spartans to find the back of the net. If midfielders Jimmy James and Xavi Wences are able to either distribute to others or take shots themselves, expect good things to come Upstate's way.
 
UP Next For the Spartans
Don't get caught looking ahead in the postseason, but if the Spartans battle with High Point and find their first win against the Panthers, then they will advance to their second Big South championship match in three years.
 
JOIN UP 
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GET INVOLVED
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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