Plan Accordingly, Exciting Matchups Fill the Men's Soccer 2023 Schedule
5/22/2023 1:00:00 PM | Men's Soccer
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- After advancing to the Big South semi-finals for the second time in three seasons, the USC Upstate men's soccer team will see themselves tested against a field of top 100 teams in their 20 match (nine home, eleven away) 2023 fall season.
"I am really excited about our schedule. Once again, we have a really strong and tough non-conference schedule with some marquee matchups," said head coach Scott Halkett. "We are punching way above our weight level in some of these games but it will test our character and quality and will get us ready for conference play."
The Spartans will indeed showdown against several heavyweights, particularly in the early stretch of the season. Regular season play begins with a familiar foe coming to Spartanburg as ASun rival North Florida will take the pitch in County University Soccer Stadium (Aug. 24). The Spartans haven't faced the Ospreys since the 2019 season and will be looking for their first win in the series since 2013.
After their four-game home stretch to open the season, the Spartans head to Raleigh, N.C. to take on the NC State Wolfpack (Aug. 28), a team that finished 75th in RPI during the 2022 season. Upstate then heads to Conway (Sept. 1) for the fifth time in six years to face the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, who finished 59th in RPI. The road trip ends in Johnson City, TN (Sept. 5) as the Spartans look for their first win in the series against the Buccaneers.
A return home (Sept. 12) sees the Georgia State Panthers come to town for the Spartan's second Tuesday night match in a row. Georgia State finished the 2022 season at 48th in RPI, which is the highest ranking for a regular season non-conference opponent the Spartans will face. Upstate hits the road for a five-game stretch and heads to take on the Liberty Flames in Lynchburg, Va. (Sept. 16)
Big South play begins with a road trip to High Point (Sept. 23), where the Spartans saw their tournament bid come to an end last season. High Point finished in RPI at 47th, which is the highest a regular season opponent finished.
The Spartans then head to Columbia to play USC (Sept. 26) before returning to Big South play with a road match against Winthrop (Sept. 30) and another non-conference matchup with Furman (Oct. 3).
For their first home match in nearly a month (Oct. 7), Upstate hosts Presbyterian for the second year in a row as part of a run that sees the Spartans flip between home and away matches primarily against conference opponents. The Spartans lost only a single match at County University Stadium last season and will have an opportunity to return the favor when they head to Radford (Oct. 11). They'll return home to host another Virginia team as the Longwood Lancers make the trip to Spartanburg (Oct. 14).
The penultimate non-conference matchup will be on the road at College of Charleston (Oct. 17) before the Spartans return home for their final home matches of the season. They'll host Gardner-Webb for their second-to-last Big South match of the year (Oct. 21) before hosting cross-town rival Wofford (Oct. 24) for both the final home and non-conference matchups of the season.
The regular season will end in Asheville, N.C. for the second year in a row as the Spartans take on the UNC Asheville Bulldogs (Nov. 1). The Big South tournament is set to begin November 5.
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