SPARTANBURG, S.C. - A new era will begin in the new season with Head Coach Michael Antoniewicz at the helm followed by new coaching staff of Matt Dunn, Tony Vu, and Nathan Girardi with Upstate Men's Soccer. The coaching staff announced the program's 2025 schedule on Wednesday afternoon, featuring eight matches set to be played at County University Soccer Stadium along with road matches being highlighted against the University of South Carolina and Clemson.
"I am really excited about the upcoming season. In this region there are so many great programs and coaches that we are looking forward to going up against. This is a program that has a historic background of winning championships and having successful seasons, " said Antoniewicz. The staff have been working very hard to build a hungry and talented squad that we hope to bring more success to this great program. Every game will be a cup final for us, and we cannot wait to have our players on campus for the new season ahead"
Upstate will open the 2025 season hitting the road for two consecutive matches matches on Aug. 12 against Clemson and Aug. 15 against Costal Carolina, giving Upstate Men's Soccer a first look on the new era. The Spartans will return to their home field under the lights hosting Georgia State for a Thursday night game. As August rounds out, the Upstate Men's Soccer will continue to gel with a road trip in Virginia to take on Liberty on Aug. 24, followed by returning to the Palmetto state with a trip to Columbia for a match against the University of South Carolina.
September will open hosting the University of Alabama-Birmingham for Monday night action. Following a home match, the Spartans make their way back on the road with a September 9th matchup against the College of Charleston followed by a Sept. 13th, Saturday night match against Elon. With the season growing before the conference play, the crosstown rivalry will heat up against Wofford for a home match on September 16th.
Big South play opens for Upstate September 20th with the Ingles I-26 Rivalry taking place against UNC Asheville at 7:00 P.M. Upstate will continue conference play with a quick road trip to Rock Hill the following weekend. Continuing road play, the Spartans will take on SoCon Opponent, Furman University, rounding the month of September.
The high anticipation and spooky hours will begin to commence with the Spartans returning to the County University Soccer Stadium for a conference matchup with Presbyterian on Oct. 3rd. Upstate will return to action for a two-game road stand with one nonconference match against Queens followed by a road conference match against High Point on October 12th. Following the road match, Upstate will have six days of preparation before hosting Gardner-Webb for a Saturday afternoon on the pitch on October 18th. With the regular season nearing its end, Upstate will travel to Campbell for a midweek nonconference game on Oct. 21st, and follow with hosting Longwood on Saturday, Oct. 25th for Senior Day at 2:00 P.M. The final regular season matchup before postseason play with a Saturday afternoon matchup against Radford on November 1st.
The 2025 Big South Men's Soccer Tournament is scheduled to take place Nov. 5-9, with six teams set to advance to the postseason event. Quarterfinals will be played Nov. 5 with higher seeds hosting semifinals (Nov. 9) and Finals (Nov. 15).
