Charleston United slips past Soda City 2-1 in USPL Semifinals

Two first-half goals and some stubborn defense see Charleston into the final

Charleston United collected a massive win Sunday night in Irmo as they upset the regular season champs Soda City 2-1 to advance to the UPSL Premier Mid-Atlantic final.

A pair of first-half goals in the span of four minutes from Charleston put the visitors in the lead entering the halftime break. Charleston struck first off a corner kick as the attacker flashed to the near post and turned in a driven ball with a deft flick that fooled the Soda keeper as it bound into the net. The Charleston forward was on his brace just minutes later in the 40^th minute as a long ball served from the Charleston keeper was flicked on twice to put him in 1v1 to toe poke the ball past the frozen Soda keeper.

With the 2-0 advantage at the break, Charleston took a more conservative approach towards the second half defending deeper with their block. A late tackle and second yellow looked to possibly derail this Charleston defensive strategy as the visitors were reduced down to 10 men in the 58^th minute.

Soda City used the extra space to control the midfield possession battle and pulled a goal back in the 77^th minute when the Soda forward headed home a cross served from the right flank to cut into the Charleston lead. A flurry of late-match Soda chances produced two huge Charleston keeper saves in both the 80th and 95^th minutes but Soda just couldn’t find the tying goal over these final minutes of action.

Charleston had played in the UPSL Division 1 ranks as recently as the Fall 2024 season and have picked up two impressive 2-1 road victories in the 2025 fall playoffs over NCFC and now Soda City.

Up next is another trip to Columbia, SC to play the South Carolina United Heat in the final. The match will be played on the weekend of December 13 and 14.