SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The USC Upstate women's soccer program has now recorded its best start to conference play since joining the Big South in 2018, as a 4-0 shutout win over Winthrop not only advance its conference record to 2-0 but carved some names into the Upstate women's soccer record book.
After gaining some momentum with Saturday's heart stopping 2-1 win over UNC Asheville, the Spartans came out firing on all cylinders against the Eagles. In the first ten minutes, Upstate rattled off four shots, two on target, compared to Winthrop's one. Despite the Spartans relentlessly pressed the Eagles' back line and tested Izzy Giarrizzi for the first 45 minutes, Upstate went into halftime tied against their opponent for the third game this season.
The halftime break may have stopped play, but it didn't kill the Spartans' offensive push as Upstate continued to attack Winthrop's offensive third as soon as play resumed. Dara Russo broke the 0-0 tie as she got the Spartans' on the board in the 49th minute of play. Russo's goal came off a pass from Paige Armstrong as Armstrong took advantage of a mistake made by the Eagles' defense while taking a goal kick. The Big South Preseason Player of the Year wasn't done yet as less than a minute later she found the far corner of the net with a chip shot on a near impossible angle from outside the 18-yard box. Regardless of the two goal lead, Upstate continued to push forward and earned a third goal as Ashley Finn capitalized on a rebound that came out after Armstrong shot one from inside the 18-yard box. The final goal of the game came in the 71st minute as Armstrong found Baccelli on the right side of the field. Baccelli slipped a ball into the center of the 18-yard box where Russo would run on to find the low left corner of the goal with a one touch shot and earn her first career hat trick.
Tonight's match against Winthrop brought several new Upstate women's soccer program records. Russo becomes tied for second in program history for goals in a single game (3) and shots in a single game (9). She also ties the program record for shots on goal in a single game (7) and now holds the second-place record for points in a single game (7), originally set back in 2014 against S.C. State. Armstrong now holds the program record for assists in a single game (3) which was originally set back in 2007 against S.C. State. As a team, the Spartans set a third-place program record for shots in a single game (37) as well as tying the third-place program record for shots on goal in a single game (17). The last time a Spartan tallied multiple goals and an assist was Sep. 5, 2019 against Mars Hill.
Game Information
Score: USC Upstate 4; Winthrop 0
Record: USC Upstate (5-1-4, 2-0-0 Big South) vs. Winthrop (3-4-1, 0-2-0 Big South)
Location: County University Soccer Stadium | Spartanburg, S.C.
How It Happened
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2' - Dara Russo (UPST) wasted little time on offense for the Spartans, claiming the first shot of the game but aiming just a little high.
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8'- Winthrop recorded its first shot of the game after Ally Bender sent a shot over the cross bar.
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20'-23' - Russo, Paige Armstrong, and Nya Baccelli (UPST) all recorded shots, testing Izzy Giarrizzi (WIN) but the Eagles' goalkeeper was able to keep the Spartans' offense at bay.
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29'- Bender (WIN) once again tried to get the Eagles their first goal, but instead gave Cora Brendle (UPST) her first save of the game.
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41'- Giarrizzi (WIN) claimed her final save of the half as Margret Edda Bjarnadottir (UPST) took the final shot to the bottom left corner.
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49'- Paige Armstrong (UPST) took advantage of a mistake in the Eagles defense and was able to find Russo running into the 18-yard box. Russo found the low left corner and delivered Upstate its first goal of the game with a left footed goal.
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49'- Russo (UPST) pushed the Spartans' lead to two goals as she took space up the right side of the field and scored again on a chip shot to the back post from outside the 18-yard box.
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54'- Annabel Thomas (WIN) tried to chip away at Upstate's lead with a shot low to the center of the net but Brendle (UPST) was able to pick up another save.
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61'- Armstrong (UPST) fired a shot from the six-yard box, but her shot was blocked and deflected back to Ashley Finn (UPST) who's one touch rebound scored Upstate it's third goal.
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71'- Russo (UPST) put the game out of reach as she connected with Baccelli and Armstrong before finding the far left corner of the net.
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At the end of full time, Upstate led Winthrop in shots (37-5), shots on goal (17-3), and corner kicks (7-0) and trailed in saves (13-3).
Notable
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Dara Russo (9), Ashley Finn (6), Nya Baccelli (5), and Paige Armstrong (5) all hit season-highs for shots today.
- Finn's goal today was her third of the season.
- Cora Brendle earned her second solo shutout of the season.
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Russo set a career high for shots (9) and shots on goal (7).
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Russo leads the Big South for shots (36), shots on goal (24), goals (7), and points (16).
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Russo not only surpassed her goals in a single season from last year (6) with her now seven goals, but the Spartans are also one goal away from tying their goals from last season.
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This was Upstate's largest win against a Big South opponent since it joined the Big South in 2018 and beat Winthrop 4-2.
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Upstate is the only team in the Big South to currently be 2-0.
UP Next for the Spartans
Upstate will take to the road for the first conference away game of the season on Saturday, Sept. 30th at 7:00 p.m. against Gardner-Webb.
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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