SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- The USC Upstate men's soccer team continues to build for the future following a 2023 season which saw plenty of contributions from a growing core of underclassmen.
For the first time since the 2016 season, the Spartans started off the season 1-0 as freshman Adrian Panaite recorded the first goal of the young season against the North Florida Ospreys. Redshirt freshman Cooper Jennings would pick up his first shutout victory of four on the season in his first career collegiate start.
The Spartans would then go on the first of two multi-match road stretches in the season, with trips to NC State, Coastal Carolina, and ETSU. Upstate would fall on the road in the first two of those matches after hard-fought results, before forcing the draw against ETSU. Jennings would write his way into the Upstate record books early in his career after recording a school-record total of 13 saves against the Buccaneers to preserve the 2-2 match.
The Georgia State Panthers were next on the schedule, but it would be in the comfortable confines of County-University Soccer Stadium, where the Spartans would yet again pick up a 1-0 victory thanks to a goal from freshman Max Edwards and a penalty kick denial by Cooper Jennings. The win against the Panthers was the first in program history against Georgia State.
A respite from the road was welcome, but brief as the Spartans would be road warriors for their next five matches, which came against Liberty, High Point, South Carolina, Winthrop, and Furman. Jeremy Montero would pick up his first goal of the season against Liberty before the Spartans made a familiar trip to High Point, North Carolina to face off with the defending Big South champions. High Point jumped out to a strong 3-0 lead in the first half, before the Spartans furiously rallied in the second, rattling off three goals of their own before a penalty kick late in the match gave the home team the win. Upstate, Virginia Tech, and No. 14 Virginia would be the only teams to record three goals against the Panthers.
The explosive offensive effort from the Spartans would carry over for one more match as they made the trip to Columbia, S.C. for the yearly bout with South Carolina. Jimmy James would get things rolling early after directing a Felipe Marty free kick into the back of the net. Cooper Jennings would deny his second penalty shot of the season to preserve the 1-0 lead before Jeremy Montero would double up the lead before the half. Early in the second, Montero would score his second goal of the match thanks to passes from Ezra Hoffman and Luke Halkett. With the victory secured at that point, freshman Dario Stadler made a memory of his own as he sniped a shot from outside the box over the outstretched hand of the keeper to record his first collegiate goal and contribute to the 4-0 shutout win over the Gamecocks.
Following the dominant victory, the Spartans would falter somewhat, falling in three of their next four matches before responding with a crucial 2-0 shutout win over the Longwood Lancers. Freshman Dzenan Cerimagic would pick up the third goal of his career and the eventual game-winner right before half, while Braiden Hall would sneak a penalty-kick by the keeper in the second to punctuate the fourth shutout win of the season. The goal was Hall's third penalty goal of the season, which tied a DI school record for penalty goals in a career and a single season.
Upstate would take on the College of Charleston Cougars in the last road non-conference match of the season. Even though the Spartans would take another blemish on the record, Braiden Hall would record the first brace of his career and pick up his sixth goal of the season. That number would leave Hall tied for the most goals in the Big South for the 2023 season.
The Spartans would then return home for two matches as they hosted Gardner-Webb for a critical Big South matchup late in the season before hosting the Wofford Terriers for the Sparkle City Derby. Tremendous efforts by Luke Halkett, Braiden Hall, and Jeremy Montero would secure three points in the Big South standings as the Spartans took the 2-1 victory over the Runnin' Bulldogs, but the Wofford Terriers would emerge victorious in a 3-2 match to close out the home schedule.
The 2023 campaign would come to a close the following week as the Spartans would fall on the road to UNC Asheville in a 4-2 decision. Jeremy Montero would capitalize on a penalty kick to pick up his 36th career point, becoming the Spartan's leading point scorer in the D-I era while Adrian Panaite recorded the last goal of the season, his first non-penalty goal since scoring the Spartan's opening goal against North Florida.
Ultimately, the Spartans would finish the year with a 5-10-2 record but had much to be proud of over the course of the season. The six Big South weekly awards were the most by Upstate soccer since joining the conference in 2018 and earned at least one of all three possible awards (Offensive Player of the Week, Defensive Player of the Week, Freshman of the Week) for the first time since the spring 2021 season. Cooper Jennings earned three honors (Freshman of the Week 2x, Defensive Player of the Week) which is the most in a single season by a Spartan, surpassing Mario Arrocha's two in 2021. Dzenan Cerimagic was the only other Spartan to be named Freshman of the Week while Jeremy Montero and Braiden Hall were named Offensive Player of the Week.
As for post-season awards, the Spartans were led there by Felipe Marty who recorded Big South All-Conference First Team honors and was the first Spartan to do so since Mario Arrocha in 2021. Jeremy Montero and Braiden Hall were both named to the Big South All-Conference Second Team and Cooper Jennings and Dzenan Cerimagic both found spots on the Big South's All-Freshman team while Jakob Benz found himself on the All-Academic Team.
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