Maurice Beggs scored his second goal of the game with 1:19 to play in the second overtime period and Pat Regna made several outstanding saves to keep the Spartans in the game as USC Upstate claimed a 2-1 victory over Presbyterian in the pouring rain at Edens Stadium.
"It was a hard fought game in very difficult playing conditions," said Upstate head coach Greg Hooks. "I thought Pat really played great tonight. He, Nick (Buxton) and John (Kadane) have kept us in games all year long with their play in the back and that continued tonight. We challenged our strikers a week ago to step up and start creating opportunities for us. Erkan did that on Wednesday and it was nice to see Maurice do that tonight. Every game is going to be so close and we have lost our share of one-goal games. Maybe its starting to be our turn to get some luck."
Despite the rainy conditions that made it difficult to maintain proper footing, neither team lacked for offensive production. The teams combined for 43 shots on the night as both goalkeepers were peppered throughout the game. In the end, Pat Regna was the player of the match after making a career-high 12 saves, many of which were spectacular. He single-handedly saved the game for Upstate on five occasions. With eight minutes left to play in the first half and the game scoreless, he jumped to save a shot from going into the upper left 90. Five minutes later, he made another series of saves to keep the Blue Hose off the scoreboard. He made a diving save to his right to save a shot, but the rebound came down to a PC striker. Regna was able to make a second diving save on the shot, this time smothering the ball as the teams went into halftime tied at 0-0.
Presbyterian broke through in the second half to take a 1-0 lead in the 63rd minute. Michael Czulinski played a cross to the far post and Sam Estridge headed the ball towards the left post where Davis Orders headed the ball into the goal.
Upstate answered in the 77th minute when Colin Francis took a corner kick and lifted the cross to the far post. Beggs came down with possession and despite the attempts of three PC defenders trying to kick the ball away, slid a shot into the net to tie the game at 1-1. it was his first goal in a Spartan uniform, though it would not be his last.
The teams battled for scoring opportunities the rest of the half, but regulation ended in a tie as Upstate forced overtime. After playing the first overtime period without a goal, the teams headed to the second overtime period. Regna again came up huge for the Spartans. He made a diving save on a shot from 15 yards out with a little over nine minutes to play, just getting his hands on the ball to deflect it away from the goal to keep Upstate in the game. With PC mounting another attack with 3:15 to play in overtime, Regna dove to his right on the ground to save a shot headed for the side of the goal.
As time wound down, Upstate made one last effort to secure a win. After a foul awarded a free kick to Upstate about 40 yards out from the goal, Ben Brannan lifted a cross into the box. After players jostled for position, Beggs again gained possession and slid a shot into the net for the game winner with just 1:19 remaining as Upstate took the 2-1 win. The win was made all the more impressive after Timo Foerster missed most of the action, first going out in the first half with a hip injury and then midway through the second half after being cleated.
Upstate finished the game with 16 shots, while Presbyterian took 27.