UPSL Mid-Atlantic Playoff Semifinals Preview

Forrest Wimberly
10 hours ago
3 min read

NATIONAL SOCCER NEWS: www.nationalsoccernetwork.com

UPSL Premier Playoffs Enter Semifinals: Heat, Sporting, Electric, and Strikers Enter the Final Four

The semifinals are set for the USPL Premier Mid-Atlantic tournament being played June 20. The top-seeded South Conference South Carolina United Heat defeated Mint Hill 4-0 to reach the semis while the North Conference two seed, Sporting Soccer Academy defeated the SC Surf 2-1 to advance.

The other two semifinalists pulled off upsets in the quarterfinals with South Conference four seed Electric City stunning the North Conference one seed AC Raleigh 2-0 while the South Conference eighth seed Gastonia FC Strikers pulled a neutral-site upset over South Conference two seed Soda City.

Results:

S1 SC United Heat 4-0 S5 Mint Hill

Four different players scored for the Heat and goalkeeper Andreas Kokoska turned away a penalty kick to run out a 4-0 win over visiting Mint Hill Saturday afternoon in Columbia. The match was played in the mid-afternoon sun and as the temperatures approached 100 degrees, it was the Heat that had the better of play and the victory. Seth Hanson, Brayden Martinez, Alex Lopez, and Luca Radovanovic were the Heat goal scorers.

N2 Sporting Soccer Academy 2-1 S5 SC Surf

Sporting were the lone team from the North Conference to get a result, scoring a 2-1 win over the SC Surf in Tennessee. Joe Elliott and Diego Silva scored the Sporting goals to see the hosts advance into the semifinals.

S4 Electric City 2-0 N1 AC Raleigh

The hottest team in the UPSL just keeps on winning, this time Electric City pulled off the shocker on the road at the top seeded AC Raleigh team in North Carolina. Electric has been facing elimination from the playoffs for over a month now going all the way back several match days in the regular season. Electric knew they had to win out to make the playoffs, and this urgency and performance has carried over into the postseason. Anthony Grudko and Mitchel Waycott scored the Electric goals to seal the victory.

S8 Gastonia FC Strikers 2-2 S2 Soda City (Gastonia wins in penalties)

Tresor Mbuyu and Melvin Benitez scored for Gastonia to cancel out goals from Soda’s Moses Akinade and Hykeem Martin to leave the match knotted 2-2 at full-time. Penalties decided the winner and Gastonia won the PK shootout to advance to the semifinals in a massive upset. The match was played at the OrthoCarolina Sportsplex in Matthews, NC, and this definitely had some impact on the match since Soda City lost their home field advantage not being able to host the game at Irmo High School.

Upcoming Matches:

S1 SC United Heat hosts N2 Sporting Soccer Academy, Southeastern Freight lines Complex-Columbia, SC.

June 20 at 2 PM

S4 Electric City hosts S8 Gastonia FC Strikers, Old McCants Stadium-Anderson, SC.

June 20 at 6 PM

So the games are set. Will the Heat keep winning and advance to the final? Can Sporting keep the dream alive for the North Conference since all the others have been eliminated? Is Electric the team of destiny this season and just can’t lose? Will Gastonia pull off another massive road upset to make the final? Saturday will reveal all those answers and more…