Saturday's MatchUP  
October 14, 2023 | 2:00 p.m. ET   

USC Upstate (8-1-4, 5-0-0 Big South) vs. Longwood (3-6-4, 1-1-2 Big South)  
Longwood Athletics Complex | Farmville, Va. 
 

How They Stack Up  

Record: USC Upstate (8-1-4, 5-0-0 Big South) vs. Longwood (3-6-4, 1-1-2 Big South) 

Series: USC Upstate trails the overall series 2-3-1 

Last Five Matches: Oct. 8, 2022 (UPST 3; LWU 1), Oct. 16, 2021 (UPST 0; LWU 5), Feb. 21, 2021 (UPST 1; LWU 1 [2OT]), Oct. 12, 2019 (UPST 0; LWU 3), Oct. 27, 2018 (UPST 1; LWU 0) 

Players to Watch  

Dara Russo continues to lead the Spartans' stats with eight goals, two assists, 18 points, 45 shots, 29 shots on goal, and two game winning goals. With her impressive stat line, Russo also leads the Big South in terms of shots, shots on goal, goals, and points. Nya Baccelli has also been a dangerous factor on the attack this year with five goals, four assists, 14 points, 37 shots, 19 shots on goal, and two game winning goals. Ashley Finn tallied her third goal of the season against Radford which, with her two assists brings her up to eight points after 24 shots and 12 shots on goal.  

Upstate has consistently started Catarina Bastos and Hailey Sapinoro in the backline with Savannah Noll, Adrianna Pepe, Emily Rangel, and Emily Sanders all seeing starts and decent time through all five conference games so far. Cora Brendle has continued to be Upstate's final line of defense, establishing a .755 save percentage as well as 40 saves. 

Longwood goes into the match with a 3-6-4 overall record, with wins over UMBC, VMI, and Gardner-Webb. Peyton Curney leads the Lancers' stats with four goals, one assist, nine points, 10 shots, eight shots, and three game winning goals. Julia Gill has also been a threat on offense for Longwood with two goals, four points, 25 shots, and 12 shots on goal. Mary Kate Levush has started 11 games in the goal for Longwood and has racked up 49 saves, a 0.93 goals against average, and a .831 save percentage in her combined 967:58 minutes of play.  

Last Match    

Upstate most recently became the last remaining women's soccer team in the Big South to not give up a loss, after defeating High Point 1-0 and Radford 3-1 last week. The Spartans took a two-goal lead on Saturday with goals coming from Ashley Finn and Nya Baccelli. The Highlanders were able to sneak one in in the 67th minute, but Dara Russo's goal in the 78th minute shut down Radford's momentum on offense. Baccelli was credited with her second game winning goal of the season and the Spartans advanced to a 5-0 conference record. Cora Brendle was able to record five saves in her 90 minutes played while Catarina Bastos and Hailey Sapinoro manned Upstate's backline for the full 90 minutes as well.  

Most recently, the Lancers advanced their conference record to 1-1-2 after a 1-1 draw with High Point on Saturday afternoon. After a scoreless first half, Longwood began to trail as the Panthers scored in the 60th minute of play. The Lancers were able to tie the game in the 70th minute of play after Peyton Curney scored with the assist being credited to Alayna Palamar. Mary Kate Levush played the full 90 minutes in the goal for the Lancers and recorded four saves.  

     
 
UP Next for the Spartans   
The Spartans will return home from Farmville to host S.C. State in a mid-week, non-conference match on Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. before honoring their seniors on Saturday, with a 4:00 p.m. kickoff with Presbyterian.   
  

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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