Florida Gulf Coast got a goal in the 11th minute and held on for a 1-0 victory over a Calon Minors and his USC Upstate teammates that mounted a late surge at the FGCU Soccer Complex in the regular season finale for both teams.
Upstate ends the regular season with a 4-9-1 overall record and a 2-4-0 mark with six points in the A-Sun. Despite the loss USC Upstate entered the game having already clinched a spot in the A-Sun Tournament. Upstate is the No. 5 seed in the tournament and will open the conference championship against No. 4 seed North Florida at Lipscomb.
Lipscomb claimed a 2-0 win over Jacksonville to win the regular season championship, No.1 seed and host of the entire tournament. Lipscomb and FGCU actually tied with 13 points and will share the regular season title, but the Bisons earned the No. 1 seed after defeating FGCU last week. Stetson will be the No. 3 seed and will play No. 6 Northern Kentucky in the other first round game.
After the teams combined for three shots in the opening minutes of the game, FGCU (6-6-5, 4-1-1, 13 pts.) struck in the 11th minute. After Upstate was called for a foul, the Eagles took the free kick and played it into the box. Upstate goalkeeper Hassan Haddad made a play on the ball, but the loose ball was collected by Santiago Echeverri who put the shot away in the open net to give FGCU a 1-0 lead.
Despite the teams combining for eight more shots the rest of the half, FGCU went into the intermission with the 1-0 lead. The Eagles owned an 8-4 lead in shots. Upstate standout Marvin Schmiege, entering the night as the A-Sun leader in goals and points, led the team with two shots in the half.
Upstate defender Minors came up with a key play early in the second half. After the team played more than 11 minutes without a shot, FGCU's Henry Penagos took a shot. Minors was there to save the shot with Haddad off his line and Penagos shooting into an open net.
With time winding down in the game, Upstate began to apply pressure and got off five shots in the last 11 minutes. FGCU goalkeeper Nathan Ingham made the biggest save of the night when he made a save on Leon Schwarzer's point blank shot with seven minutes to play to preserve the shutout.
FGCU finished the game with a 14-10 lead in shots with both teams placing three shots on goal.
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