SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Five different players scored and Campbell erupted for a 7-1 win over USC Upstate Tuesday night in its Big South Conference opener at County University Stadium.
Thibaut Jacquel came off the bench to score twice and set up another goal in only 45 minutes of action for Campbell (2-2, 1-0 Big South), which enjoyed its largest offensive output in a match since a 7-0 win over Belmont on Oct. 28, 2010.
JJ Donnelly,
Aigbekan Nosegbe,
Josh Signey and
Matt Lock also hit the nets for the Camels, who scored seven unanswered goals after falling behind in the 16th minute.
Jacquel, Nosegbe, Signey and Lock all scored after entering the match as substitutes for a Campbell side that was coming off a 5-2 win Saturday night over Belmont. USC Upstate, which won 2-0 at UNC Asheville last Friday, dropped to 1-2 overall, 1-1 in the Big South.
"For the first time this season, we played the style we wanted to play, pressing high, converting defense to the attack and getting offense from a lot of different players," said fourth-year Campbell head coach
Dustin Fonder. "Once we started pressing, our depth is so great that our second wave will wear teams down."
Similar to Saturday night's comeback win over Belmont, the Camels fell behind early in the second half. In the 16th minute, Upstate's Erik Espinoza attempted an overhead kick in the box that dropped to the feet of Joel Bunting, who ran on to ball and scored from about eight yards out.
The Spartans held the lead for over 25 minutes until Jacquel dribbled into the Upstate box left of the goal and crossed to Donnelly, whose volley in traffic provided the equalizer in the 41st minute.
Just 1:34 later, Campbell went ahead after
Aigbekan Nosegbe's cross deflected off an Upstate defender and into goalkeeper Andrea Bonavia's net.
Less than four minutes into the second half, Campbell doubled its lead when Bonavia ventured well out of his box to attempt a clearing header. Jacquel gained control in the midfield, took a couple of touches, and then lofted the ball over a retreating Bonavia into the goal.
Jacquel tallied a second goal in the 65th minute when Donnelly crossed from the right flank and the Frenchman's left-footed volley at the far post was on target. He nearly completed a hat trick two minutes later on a dipping free kick from outside the box, but the ball sailed just inches over the crossbar.
Nosegbe knocked in his own rebound in the 69th minute to extend the Campbell lead to 5-1.
Josh Signey's goal in the 78th minute off
Bastien Oberli's service was a near mirror to Jacquel's strike off Donnelly's feed 13 minutes earlier.
With less than seven minutes to play, Campbell gained control deep in the Upstate end and
Humberto Chavez slid the ball to freshman
Matt Lock, who dribbled by three Spartan defenders before scoring the first goal of his Camel career.
Campbell finished with a 17-10 edge in shots, 11-4 in attempts on target.
Samuel Lechuga had three saves in the Camel nets, while Bonavia made four stops.
"Credit to Upstate," said Fonder. "The score line wasn't indicative of how good they are. But we went on the road and got three points, which is incredibly hard to do in this league. It doesn't matter if you score seven goals or one goal, just that you get it accomplished."
Campbell's 7-goal outburst was its largest against a Big South opponent since a 7-1 victory over Charleston Southern on Oct. 29, 1992. CU's 12 goals scored over the last 180 minutes is the largest registered in back-to-back games by the Camels since Fonder took over as head coach in 2015.
The Camels improved to 6-1 all-time against the Spartans, including a 4-0 mark between the 2007 and 2010 seasons when both schools were members of the Atlantic Sun Conference.
Campbell opens a three-game home stretch Saturday vs. Davidson at 7:00 p.m.
