SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Send them off with a bang. Big South play is upon us as the USC Upstate Spartans are hosting the Fighting Campbell Camels Sunday night for the last time as Big South opponents.
The MatchUP
Who: Campbell (4-2-2, 0-0-0 Big South) at USC Upstate (2-4-1, 0-0-0 Big South)
Where: County University Soccer Stadium; Spartanburg, S.C.
When: 6:00, p.m.
Series History:
The two Big South teams have played every year since 2018, with Campbell holding the edge 2-0-3 in those games. Every Big South meeting between these two teams has been hard fought since 2019, with two of those meetings going to extra time and all of them either being ties or 1 goal games. The second meeting in spring of 2021 ended in a 1-1 tie after 2 OTs, but Upstate walked it off on penalty kicks to advance to their first Big South championship appearance.
Campbell leads the overall record 8-1-2.
Last Match
Both teams are coming off wins against CAA opponents. Upstate secured a 2-1 victory at home against College of Charleston thanks to the late game heroics of
Brody Williams. The Spartans have won 2 in a row now and have been playing well in Spartanburg so far this season.
The Camels are rolling after a 1-0 win in the Creek against #12 UNCG Wednesday night. Before that, Campbell had hit a bit of a wall after starting the season 3-0, going 0-2-2 over the course of their last four games. The win against UNCG is their first since September 1.
The Six Degrees
Campbell and Upstate have shared two opponents this year, Coastal Carolina and South Carolina.
Upstate took one on the chin in the season opener at Coastal, falling to the Chanticleers 4-1. Campbell had home field advantage against Coastal, forcing a 1-1 tie. The Camels recorded 16(3 SOG) shots in their match with Coastal, while Upstate fired off 11(2 SOG).
Both teams took a 1 goal loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks in Columbia, with Upstate being the only one of the two to find a goal of their own. The two game scripts couldn't have been more different though, with Campbell doubling up SC in goals (14 – 7, 3 – 5 SOG), while the Spartans faced a barrage of shots throughout the night (23 – 6, 11 – 2 SOG).
Players to Watch
Jeremy Montero has recorded a goal in back-to-back games now as he was the first player to find the back of the net in the game against CoC.
Brody Williams has recorded a point in back-to-back games too and even notched the game-winner Tuesday night. Two Spartans played the full 90 against the Cougars, the ever-constant Kasper
Jørgensen, and fellow freshman
Chase Cooke, who started his first game of the season. The trio of
Xavi Wences,
Julian Fernandez and
Braiden Hall will hope to keep the Spartan momentum rolling Sunday night.
UP Next for The Spartans
Upstate will go back on the road for an October 1 date at Gardner-Webb before coming back home for the last non-conference game of the season with Furman.
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.
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