South Carolina United Heat muscle past Charleston United

Second-half surge lifts Heat 4-1 in tense Palmetto State UPSL match

It was a very warm and sunny 3 PM kickoff on Saturday, May 17 as Charleston United visited the South Carolina United Heat in UPSL Mid-Atlantic South Division soccer action in Columbia.

After a closely contested first half ended knotted at 1-1 at the break, it was a second-half goal surge from the Heat to score three unanswered goals to leave no doubt as to the 4-1 result in this key UPSL match up. Both teams were chasing division leaders Soda City FC as they entered the match and the Heat took a major step forward in standings with the result.

The first 30 minutes of the match saw both teams trade shots with some narrow misses and scrambling defensive plays to keep the game scoreless. Just as the game had settled into more of a midfield duel, Charleston United took the lead in the 40^th minute after a series of passes and shots in the Heat penalty box saw the ball fall to a free Charleston runner in the box. Matthias Dennis made quick work of the loose ball as he placed a low driven ball out of reach of the Heat keeper for the 1-0 advantage.

The Heat began to press over the final minutes of the first half and a free kick was won just at the top of the Charleston box in the 43^rd minute. Heat leading scorer Tom Marriott ripped an arrow of a shot just over the left shoulder of the player at the end of the wall that surprised the Charleston keeper as the ball raced into the near post upper 90. The keeper at full stretch couldn’t get a touch to the ball and the teams went to the break tied 1-1.

The second half again saw a midfield stalemate but a red card to a Heat defender in the 65^th minute seemed to be the catalyst the game needed to spur the hosts into a goal-scoring frenzy.

A superb volley from Heat center back Gabriel Rokov provided a golazo in the 70^th minute to send the Heat on their way. A free kick was looped back post to the top of the box where Rokov flashed the laces of his right boot to rocket the ball into the far-post side netting. Golazo Rokov.

Just five minutes later in the 75^th minute, the 10-man Heat attack again found the nets after some quick passing found Carson Graves in the Charleston box where he caught the keeper out of position to drive a ball low into the near post for the commanding 3-1 lead.

Charleston also saw red in the 80^th minute as both teams now played 10 v 10 for the final stretch of the game.

Tom Marriott tallied his latest multi-goal game of the season in the 88^th minute securing a brace with a low driven shot past the Charleston keeper for his 14^th goal of the season. The fourth goal put an exclamation point on the second half goal surge and all three points in the bag for the Heat on the afternoon.

The win along with the Soda City FC draw on the road at Boiling Springs really makes things tight at the top of the UPSL Mid-Atlantic South Division with just three more regular season matches to play. Soda City at 17 points and the Heat at 16 points appear to be setting up a massive regular season finale in June to decide the season champs and playoff seeding

“We had a first half that wasn’t what we planned,” said SC United Heat Head Coach Ivan Vlek. “I think we had the time and the space on the ball for the most part of the first half…but there was a gap of ten minutes where we got a little bit tired, we got erratic with passes, and that’s when they took the chance to score on us out of an isolated play because we didn’t suffer much defensively. We were able to tie and then at halftime I just told them I know that it’s hot, it’s not an easy day to play, but everybody either on the field or on the bench, were just incredible players that could give us the win…and that’s exactly what we saw in the second half because we scored three goals. We didn’t stop running and the people from the bench did their job.”

The Heat next travel to Summerville on Saturday, May 31 for a rematch versus Charleston United with a 5 PM kickoff. A final home match versus Boiling Springs on June 7 and then the short trip across town to play Soda City on June 14 in the regular season finale.