Palmetto State Report: August 28
Huge USL results, UPSL schedule drop, 2026 USOC qualifiers
Battery blitz Loudoun 4-1 Sunday afternoon at the Point
The heavy rains of the weekend postponed the match until Sunday afternoon but that didn’t stop the Battery from blasting visiting Loudoun United 4-1 in a very convincing win at the Point. The win keeps the Battery just a point behind Lou City off the top of the USLC table with 47 points in a two-club race at the top of the Eastern Conference. Kelly, Jennings, Rodriguez, and Myers all scored in the match before Loudoun scored a late consolation goal to complete the score line. The Battery are on the road at Rhode Island on August 30 at 7 PM.
Triumph slip 0-1 at home to Texoma
It was a USL Cup hangover on Saturday night in the Upstate as the Triumph fell 0-1 to Texoma in the club’s return to league play after their triumphant USL Cup win on the road at the Indy Eleven. Greenville remains in 9th place in the USL League One standings and returns to the pitch on September 3 hosting Portland Hearts of Pine at 7 PM.
UPSL Premier Mid-Atlantic South regular season kicks off August 31
The UPSL Mid-Atlantic South Conference Fall 2025 season kicks off August 31 as nine clubs will be battling in one of the toughest conferences in the UPSL Premier division.
Perennial powerhouses Soda City and the SC United Heat are back along with recent playoff champions Asheville FC in a loaded conference line up. Charleston United and Charlotte SA also are returning from their spring top-five finishes along with Boiling Springs United who finished in 6th place last spring. Former UPSL clubs making a return to the league are Mint Hill FC and Pre-College DA from the Charlotte area while the expansion Coastal Kings FC make their UPSL debut from Savannah, Georgia.
Each team plays a 10-game regular season and there are some huge matches coming to South Carolina this fall. The Columbia Derby featuring Soda and the Heat will be played October 25 at Irmo HS. Spring champs Asheville FC visits Charleston on September 6, Boiling Springs on October 26 and Soda City on November 8.
SC United Heat are the only Palmetto State club in the 2026 US Open Cup qualifiers
There are a record 146 clubs entered into the 2026 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup qualifiers set to kickoff in September and the South Carolina United Heat are the lone entry from the Palmetto State. From this field of 146 entries, just 16 clubs will survive the four rounds of qualifiers to enter the 2026 US Open Cup proper. The first round of matches will be held September 13 and 14. The Heat have successfully navigated the qualification process before advancing into the 2024 US Open Cup where they posted a 1W-0L-1T record defeating MLS NextPro Crown Legacy 1-0 before drawing the USL1 side Charlotte Independence 0-0 before slipping in penalties to just miss out on advancing.