Palmetto State Report: June 12
Crunch time in UPSL, USL matches almost every day, big events just ahead...
It was some wild weather, some huge results, and some visitors from Brazil that made the soccer headlines around the state over the past week.
Brazilian giants Fluminense make USC-Columbia Home Base for FIFA Club World Cup
Fluminense FC will call Columbia, SC their home base for the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup. All the sessions are closed to the public, but the 2023 Copa Libertadores and 2024 Recopa Sudamerican champs are here in the Palmetto State preparing for their upcoming matches versus Dortmund, Ulsan, and Mamelodi Sundowns. None of the matches are being played in the area but the team looks likely to advance out of the group versus the German, Korean, and South African opposition. The team began their final tune up for match one versus Dortmund by playing a closed-door friendly versus the Charleston Battery this past Wednesday.
South Carolina United Heat cruise to 4-0 win over Boiling Springs
A brace from Jose Puente in the first half and then a brace from substitute Rodrigo Vicente Cerca in a seven-minute spell of the second half saw the Heat cruise to a 4-0 win over visiting Boiling Springs. The field turf at Southeast Freight Lines park was sweltering under the 3 pm sunny conditions in Columbia on Saturday only fitting for a match between the Heat and Boiling Springs. With the win the Heat are now tied with Soda City after Soda drew their match 2-2 at Charleston to set up a regular season finale, de facto championship match Saturday, June 14 at Irmo. The Heat will be without the services of leading scorer and Fall 2024 USPL Golden Boot winner Tom Marriott who suffered a season-ending knee injury two weeks ago in the win at Charleston. Kickoff is set for 6 PM on June 14th.
Battery earn draw on the road at Loudoun United
MD Myers scored a goal in the 43rd minute cleaning up a loose ball one touch in front of the goal, and the defense with goalkeeper Luis Zamudio limited the Loudoun attack to just one goal as the points were split on the road. This was a matchup between two of the top teams in the USLC Eastern Conference and these two will probably have a playoff meeting sometime this coming postseason. The Battery are in second place in the conference on 25 points just 3 points behind first-place Louisville City.
Greenville get USL One draw versus FC Naples at Historic Riggs Field
It was a stormy night in the Upstate and after a two-hour weather delay the Triumph earned a point in this match played at Clemson University’s Historic Riggs Field. Leo Castro scored the goal for the Triumph as the team now holds a 2-4-4 record sitting in ninth place in USL League One. Saturday the Triumph hosts the Red Wolves back at their usual digs at Fran University.
SC United Bantams Women move to 4-2-0 and second place in division
Tormenta had spoiled the Bantams perfect record just days prior in Columbia, so the Bantams returned the result in Statesboro with a 2-0 victory Sunday night in USL W League action. Katelyn Black scored in the 37th minute and Briana Pinasco scored just after before the half in the first-half stoppage time to claim all three points on the road. The Bantams then slipped 1-2 at home versus the Carolina Ascent in mid-week action. The Bantams still sit in second place in the South Atlantic division sitting on 12 points with a road match at the first-place NC Courage U23 clearly in their sights.
Electric City move to top of table on Wake Futbol forfeit
It was going to be the UPSL Division One Mid-Atlantic match of the season, but Wake Futbol Club had travel issues and forfeited the match between the top two teams in the conference. With the points, Electric City moves over Wake to the top of the table with just three games left in the Spring 2025 season. Guess we’ll just have to wait until the playoffs to see if we get this heavyweight match up…
River City spoil summer league debut of Palmetto Athletic FC
The storms in Irmo forced the game to be abandoned at the half, but before the weather rolled in, River City had scored twice to separate the two teams in SCASA Summer League play. The match was the summer league debut of APSL expansion side Palmetto Athletic and the UPSL experience of the hosts showed in the small details of the two goal-scoring moments. Both teams are back in action as Palmetto plays Panik Attack and River City plays Satuday Celtic in the next matches on June 14 at the Irmo practice fields.
Liberty climb to second in USL-W League standings
The Liberty came up just short 0-1 in their home match versus Asheville at Clemson’s Riggs Field. Two days later, the ladies posted a 1-0 win on the road at Tennessee SC to climb over Tennessee and into second place in the USL-W League South Central division standings. Mia Bookhard scored the decisive goal in the 90th minute to earn all the points on the road for the Liberty.
Palmetto State Results and Upcoming Fixtures:
Charleston Battery (USL C): 1-1 Tie VS Loudoun United 8W-2L-1T record. Next @ Hartford Athletic June 14
Greenville Triumph (USL One): 1-1 Tie VS FC Naples 2W-4L-T4 record. Next @ Union Omaha June 12
Soda City FC (UPSL Premier): 2-2 Tie VS Charleston United 6W-0L-3T record. Next VS SCU Heat June 14
SC United Heat (UPSL Premier): 4-0 Win VS Boiling Springs 7W-2L-0T record. Next @ Soda City June 14
Charleston United (UPSL Premier): 2-2 Tie VS Soda City 3W-5L-1T record. Next @ Boiling Springs June 14
Boiling Springs SC (UPSL Premier): 0-4 Loss VS SCU Heat 3W-4L-2T record. Next VS Charleston United June 14
Boiling Springs SC 2 (UPSL Division 1): 2-2 Tie VS Liberty FC 1W-4L-3T record. Next VS Forest Hills June 15
Emerald City FC (UPSL Division 1): 1-2 Loss VS Forest Hills 2W-6L-0T record. Next VS Villarreal Force June 14
Electric City FC (UPSL Division 1): 3-0 forfeit win VS Wake 7W-1L-0T record. Next @ Asheville FC II June 14
SC United Bantams (USL Two): 3-0 Win VS Wake FC 2W-2L-1T record. Next VS Charlotte Eagles June 14
SC United Bantams Women (USL W): 1-2 Loss VS Carolina Ascent 4W-2L-0T record. Next A NC Courage June 14
Greenville Liberty (USL W): 2-0 Win VS SSA Swarm 4W-3L-1T record. Next @ One Knoxville June 18
Soda City Women (WPSL). 0-4 Loss VS Port City 1W-3L-0T record. Next VS North Carolina FC June 21
Soda City Women (UPSL). 0-6 Loss VS Carolina Crew 0W-3L-1T record. Next @ Rush United FC June 14
Boiling Springs Women (UPSL). 0-3 Loss VS Carolina Crew 0W-3L-0T record. Next Rush United June 15