SCU Heat Crush Mint Hill 4-0 in UPSL Playoffs

Forrest Wimberly
10 hours ago
3 min read

NATIONAL SOCCER NEWS: www.nationalsoccernetwork.com

It was a very warm, sunny afternoon in Columbia. South Carolina as the South Carolina United Heat crushed Mint Hill 4-0 in the UPSL Premier Mid-Atlantic quarterfinals. Four different players found the nets for the Heat while Heat goalkeeper Andreas Kokoska made a strong save on a second-half penalty kick to their ticket into the next round.

Mint Hill had been a difficult opponent for the Heat in past knockout matches, twice knocking the Heat out of US Open Cup qualifiers (2024 and 2025), so the big win over Mint clearly reversed that trend for the top seed in the Mid-Atlantic postseason.

The match started slowly and several times was reduced to just a walking pace as the abundant sunshine and synthetic field turf combined for temperatures close to 100 degrees on the pitch. “The heat definitely affected (the match) but we we're past the point of struggling to get fit or anything like that,” said Heat Head Coach Ivan Vlek. “(We did) no more than what we've been doing, if two weekends ago we played Friday and Sunday…there was no reason why we couldn't run the hell out of the field today with just one game on a weekend.”

The match looked to be heading to the halftime break tied 2-2 but Heat captain Seth Hanson worked a nifty give and go with forward Tom Marriott to open the scoring in the 44th minute. Hanson drove inside from the right flank and played a ball into the feet of Marriott who held the ball, drew the pressure, and then dished the ball off to Hanson streaking across the field. Hanson continued his dribble into the box as the Mint Hill defense was too slow to close down the run and then rifled the ball into the nets for the 1-0 Heat advantage at the half.

The second Heat goal came in the 55th minute as defender Brayden Martinez got forward after some combination play and found space all alone inside the crowded Mint Hill penalty area, where he calmly placed the ball into the net for the 2-0 lead.

The next goal came in the 65th minute after a surging run up the right flank produced a ball squared to the penalty spot where Alex Lopez was waiting. Lopez collected the ball and fired the Heat into the comfortable three-goal cushion.

Mint Hill looked like they might open their scoring account in the 70th minute after winning a penalty kick from a trip inside the Heat area. Heat goalkeeper Andreas Kokoska read the shooter correctly and dove to his right, getting a strong hand on the low shot to turn away Mint Hill’s best chance of scoring all match long. The Heat successfully defended the subsequent Mint corner kick and that ended the danger preserving the shutout for Kokoska.

“I've been a pain with keeping the clean sheet every single game,” said Vlek. “Coming from a defender (Vlek was a key defensive part of the Heat’s UPSL and US Open Cup runs), I think it's super important to build that confidence, and he (Kokoska) did great. I’m so happy that he got some action.”

Substitute Luca Radovanovic added the final Heat goal in the 90th minute, receiving the ball inside the Mint area and then finishing the action with a goal to give the Heat the final 4-0 commanding victory.

“Our goal is to have a strong squad beginning to end, meaning starters to subs,” said Coach Vlek about using numerous substitutes in the match. “I think today is a proof that I can trust, I can trust everybody to come in and do the job they're supposed to do. So, that leaves me happy. It means that we have options.”

The Heat advance to host the Mid-Atlantic semifinals on June 20 as they host Sporting Soccer Academy at 2 PM. With other results in the region, the Heat are the highest remaining seed in the playoffs and will host the final with a successful result in the next round. Only Electric City, Gastonia FC, and Sporting Soccer Academy remain in the very competitive UPSL Mid-Atlantic playoffs.