Saturday's MatchUP  
October 7, 2023 | 7:00 p.m. ET   

USC Upstate (7-1-4, 4-0-0 Big South) vs. Radford (7-4-2, 3-0-1 Big South)  
County University Soccer Stadium | Spartanburg, S.C. 
 

How They Stack Up  

Record: USC Upstate (7-1-4, 4-0-0 Big South) vs. Radford (7-4-3, 3-0-1 Big South) 

Series: USC Upstate trails the overall series 2-9-0 

Last Five Matches: Nov. 3, 2022 (UPST 0; RAD 1), Oct. 4, 2022 (UPST 2; RAD 0), Oct. 2, 21 (UPST 1; RAD 0), Mar. 24, 2021 (UPST 0; RAD 6), Oct. 9, 2019 (UPST 2; RAD 5) 

Players to Watch  

Dara Russo continues to lead the Spartans' stats with seven goals, two assists, 16 points, 41 shots, 27 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. Margret Edda Bjarnadottir has been a consistent closer for the Spartans as she tallied her third game winning goal of the season against High Point.  

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 the last four conference games. Cora Brendle has continued to be Upstate's final line of defense, establishing a .745 save percentage as well as 35 saves. 

Radford's offense is led by Eileen Albers with five goals, three assists, 13 points, 18 shots, 13 shots on goal, and two game winning goals. Six other Highlanders have multiple goals on the season including Alexeis Kirnos who has four goals and Paige Olson who has three. Olson leads the team for assists with eight, which currently leads the Big South. Lexi Radvanyi has started eight of Radford's 13 matches this season and sits with a .805 save percentage, 33 saves, and a 0.92 goals against average.  

Last Match    

Upstate continued its best start to conference play on Wednesday night in High Point, as the Spartans were able to walk away with a 1-0 win over the Panthers. Magret Edda Bjarnadottir scored her third game winning goal, fourth goal of the season, in the first half of the match with assists being credited to Ashley Finn and Hailey Sapinoro. Cora Brendle was able to make four saves and earn her third solo shutout of the season with the 1-0 victory. 

Radford most recently earned its third conference win of the season after a second half 4-1 win over the Bulldogs of UNC Asheville. Eileen Albers tallied two goals for the Highlanders while Amy Swain and Jashyra Johnson added one goal each to Radford's total. Despite giving up one goal, Lexi Radvanyi made five saves and was able to earn her fifth win of the season.  

     
 
UP Next for the Spartans   
After Upstate serves as host to Radford on Saturday night, the Spartans will take their time to recover with no mid-week match next week and will look towards their game against Longwood in Virginia on Saturday afternoon (10/14).   
  

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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