Palmetto State Report: September 18
USL heats up and UPSL cranks up around the Palmetto State
Battery battle to 3-3 draw with Oakland Roots
Goals from Cal Jennings, MD Myers, and Rubio Rubin share the points in front of another massive crowd at the Point this past Saturday night. The Battery remain in second place in the Eastern Conference on 51 points now sitting six points off the top spot behind Lou City. The Battery are on a Western Conference road trip the next two match days away to El Paso on September 20 and away to Orange County on September 27. The next home match is October 11 versus the Switchbacks.
Triumph slips 2-1 in Peach States Derby to Tormenta
Connor Evans scored a late goal in the 81st minute to make the final minutes more interesting, but the Greenville Triumph slipped 2-1 to the visiting South Georgia Tormenta in the Upstate Saturday night. The loss slips the Triumph into 12th place in the USL One table with 24 points as the team has collected just 1 point from their previous five USL League One matches. Only six matches remain in the regular season and the next match versus Forward Madison is almost a must-win match to reverse the trends and set the Triumph up for a late-season playoff push as matches versus the top three USL One sides (Red Wolves, Velocity, One Knox) still loom on the schedule. Kickoff is at 7 PM on Saturday, September 20 versus Forward.
Heat defeat Charleston United 2-0 in UPSL home opener
Goals from John Osadolor Ighede and Angel Perez pushed the South Carolina United Heat to a 2-0 win over the visiting Charleston United side Sunday afternoon in Columbia. The Heat are now 2-0 on the young season and have a road match this weekend at the undefeated, expansion side Coastal Kings FC in Savannah.
Soda downs Boiling Springs 4-2 in season opener
It was a 4-2 win in Irmo Saturday night as Soda City opened their Fall 2025 campaign defeating Boiling Springs. Troy Paul scored a brace with Graham Jermstad and Lamar Thompson adding the other Soda goals in the victory. Sabiano Sandor and Zikeem Smith scored for the visitors who jumped out to an early lead in just the 4th minute and then reclaimed the lead after the half in the 61st minute. Soda City had leveled the match before the half at 1-1 and after falling behind again in the second half came roaring back with three goals in 10 minutes to grab the victory. Soda’s goal avalanche began in the 74th minute and ended in the 83rd minute with the hosts jumping from a goal down to two goals up in this furious comeback.
River City set to open season on the road at Combine Academy II
River City FC make their return to USPL Mid-Atlantic Division 1 action this coming Sunday at Combine Academy II. Kickoff is set for 2 PM in Charlotte. River City FC has been fielding a SCASA League team as well as playing exhibition matches over the past few seasons and last played in the UPSL during the Fall 2023 season. The club has bounced between USPL Premier and Division 1 since 2021 and their most successful campaign was a third-place finish during the Spring 2022 Division 1 campaign.
Triumph founder steps down as club chairman, continues as owner/board member
Greenville Triumph and Greenville Liberty founder Joe Erwin recently stepped down as the club’s Chairman after seven influential years in that role. This move is just ahead of the highly anticipated 2026 new BridgeWay Station stadium opening in Mauldin which will take the Triumph and Liberty into a new 10,000 seat gem of a venue for the Upstate. Erwin will continue to be an owner and board member with the club as the Triumph begins a new bold era in 2026.