Columbia Derby goes to Soda City

Rauf Salifu brace powers Soda City to victory

It was a rainy, mild spring afternoon in Columbia, South Carolina as UPSL Premier Mid-Atlantic South powerhouses and fierce rivals met in match day three of the Spring UPSL season. Usually games like this don’t happen so early in the season, but both teams were focused and committed to the match held on the turf field at the Southeastern Freight Lines Soccer Center.

After a scoreless first half, Soda City FC attacker Rauf Salifu scored a pair of goals in a 10-minute span to separate the two teams and see the Columbia Derby finish Soda City blue at the final whistle.

From the opening whistle it was a frantic pace and physical tone to the match. Soda City FC created some early pressure on the SC United Heat goal forcing a scrambling clearance out of the goal mouth in the 5^th minute in what was the best scoring chance of the first half.

The fouls and subsequent restarts were the only breaks in the action during the first half as both teams dueled to control the midfield and the match. All of this midfield action just didn’t translate to anything more than half chances from outside the area as both teams battled to a 0-0 stalemate at the half.

The second half looked to be playing out just like the first half until Soda City changed the script in a 10-minute, two-goal burst.

The Soda breakthrough was in the 61^st minute as Salifu started a passing sequence just outside the top of the penalty box. Salifu drew the pressure and then played his teammate wide to the right who then dumped a ball into the far post inside box where a third-man running played the ball back inside to a streaking Salifu who lost his mark and calmly slotted the ball low into the left corner for the 1-0 Soda advantage.

Salifu doubled the lead in the 69^th minute bending a ball up and past the Heat wall on a free kick to find the exact lower left-hand corner of the net where he had deposited goal number one just a few minutes earlier. The ball seemed to have eyes as it avoided the Heat wall and the Heat goalkeeper at full stretch just couldn’t get down the goal line fast enough to keep the ball out of the net.

In the 90^th minute the Heat hit a blistering shot hit to the left upper 90 of the goal but the Soda keeper preserved the shutout with a diving punch to end the match 2-0 to the visitors.

Soda City moves to 2-0 on the early spring season while the SC United Heat fall to 2-1. The two teams will meet again this spring in the regular season finale on June 14^th at Irmo High School. Expect that game to have huge playoff implications in the next Columbia Derby.