Box Score COLUMBIA, S.C. –  That one hurts.
 
It was a night of firsts for the Upstate Spartans. The first goal of Braiden Hall's young Spartan career came at the expense of the South Carolina Gamecocks. Upstate held their first lead of the season in the second half at Columbia, silencing a crowd of rowdy students fresh off the holiday weekend. Unfortunately, the Gamecocks walked away with their first win of the Sun Belt era as the Spartans fell 2-1.
 
Game Information
Score: Upstate 1 | South Carolina 2
Records: Upstate (0-3-0, 0-0-0 Big South) | South Carolina (1-2-1, 0-0-0 Sun Belt)
Location: Eugene E. Stone III Stadium | Columbia S.C.
 
How it Happened
23' – Maybe it was a sign of things to come, but Braiden Hall had the first good opportunity to put the Spartans on the board midway through the first half
44' – South Carolina had a good opportunity to take the lead right before the half, but the experienced Luca Bulfon deflected a shot. It landed right in front of another Gamecock who ripped it again, but Luca quickly recovered for the save
46' – 23 minutes after his shot in the 23^rd minute, Braiden Hall found the back of the net to give the Spartans their first lead of the season
69' – In the 69^th minute, South Carolina received the first and only red card of the match. While that would seem like an advantage for the Spartans, the Gamecocks quickly took back control of the match
72' – South Carolina turned up the intensity and quickly recovered from their red, squeezing a shot by the stalwart Bulfon to even the score
86' – The Gamecocks finished off their rally with another goal late in the match which slide right by Luca
 
Notable
-Freshman Braiden Hall notched the first goal of his young career
-The Spartans held their first lead of the season
-Luca Bulfon more than doubled his season save total with 8 against the Gamecocks
-The Spartans faced 23 shots tonight, 4 more than the 19 they faced against Clemson
 
UP Next for the Spartans
Upstate will be hosting ETSU in their home opener of the 2022 season Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m.

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