BUIES CREEK, N.C. - Riding a 5-match win streak, second-seeded Campbell (8-2-1, 6-1-1) hosts third seed USC Upstate (6-3-1, 6-1-1) in the Big South Conference semifinal round Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. on ESPN+. The teams drew 2-2 on Feb. 28 in Spartanburg, but the Camels earned the tiebreaker based on goal differential within league play. Top-seeded High Point hosts fourth seed UNC Asheville Wednesday at 7 p.m. Semifinal winners will meet Saturday at 6 p.m. at the site of the highest remaining seed. The champion will receive the league's automatic berth to the NCAA College Cup.
ONE OF NATION'S TOP ATTACKS: The Camels stand 4th in the nation in goals scored per game (2.73), behind only Portland (3.11), High Point (3.09) and Oakland (2.89). Campbell has outscored its opponents 30-9 this season, including a 25-5 advantage in 8 Big South matches. Additionally, CU is 3rd nationally in goal differential (+21), 4th in points per game (8.09) and 9th in assists per game (2.64)... Thirteen different Camels have scored this year, led by
Jalen James (5) and Sami Amal (5), while 14 different CU players have set up goals, topped by Amal (4).
LAST TIME OUT: Campbell -
Sami Charaf Amal scored twice and set up Campbell's first goal to lead the Camels to a 3-1 win Saturday at Radford. In rain and slick conditions,
Tyler Young added a goal and assist for CU, which extended its win streak to five matches and secured home field advantage for the Big South semifinal round...
USC Upstate - The Spartans won 2-1 in OT on Apr. 3 at Gardner-Webb. Mario Arrocha scored a first-half equalizer, while Pascal Corvino provided a 92nd minute winner for Upstate, which outshot the Bulldogs 20-2.
UPSTATE PREVIEW: Led by first-team all-conference selections Pol Monells and Pascal Corvino and guided by Big South coach of the year Scott Halkett, the Spartans improved six places in the Big South standings from a year ago when Upstate was 1-7 in league play. Like Campbell, Upstate only lost to regular season champion High Point. Monells ranks 2nd in the league in assists (5), 3rd in goals (7) and points (19), while Corvino added 4 goals. Felipe Baeza played all 935 minutes in the nets and posted a 1.35 goals against average. As a team, Upstate stands 3rd in the league in scoring (2.1) and 3rd in GAA (1.35).
SERIES HISTORY: Campbell owns a 7-1-1 record all-time vs. the Spartans, and is unbeaten (6-0-1) in the series since USC Upstate moved to Division I (and joined the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2007)... On Feb. 28, Pol Monells and Orion McHugh gave the Spartans a 2-0 lead just 12:55 into the contest before CU battled back for a 2-2 draw.
Alemu Mercer-Miko (28') and
Jamie Lamb (58') scored for CU, which finished with a 15-14 edge in shots, 9-6 in shots on target.... CU is 2-0-1 vs. Upstate since the Spartans joined the Big South in 2018.
SOUTH REGION POLL (4/13/21): 1. Pittsburgh (13-2-0), 2. Clemson (12-3-2), 3. Wake Forest (11-2-2), 4. North Carolina (7-4-3), 5. Virginia Tech (6-6-2), 6. UNC Greensboro (7-2-2), 7. High Point (10-1-0), 8. USC Upstate (6-3-1),
9. Campbell (8-2-1), 10. Furman (7-2-1).
TWELVE CAMELS NAMED TO BIG SOUTH TEAMS: A total of 12 Campbell players – including defensive player of the year
Franck Momo and freshman of the year
Sami Charaf Amal – earned Big South post season honors. Momo and Amal were joined on the all-conference first team by
Jalen James,
Moses Mensah and
Diego Konincks.
Humberto Chavez,
George Bediko,
Matt Lock and
Samuel Lechuga were second-team selections, while
Bissafi Dotte was an honorable mention choice.
Tyler Young and Amal were named to the all-freshman team, while
Alex Egeonu represented the Camels on the all-academic team.
HEAD COACH DUSTIN FONDER (Roanoke, '94) is in his sixth season at Campbell (58-41-9 overall, 30-16-3 Big South). His overall head coaching record stands at 136-104-27, including a 79-63-18 mark in eight seasons at High Point. Fonder guided the 2018 Camels to their first conference tournament title and NCAA College Cup berth since 2007. He was named 2019 Big South Coach of the Year after leading the Camels to the program's first league regular season title since 2009... Also named Big South Coach of the Year in 2009 and 2010 while at High Point.
BIG SOUTH SUCCESS: CU is now 18-1-2 in its last 21 games (regular season and tournament) vs. league foes. A 1-0 loss Mar. 13 to High Point ended CU's 16-match unbeaten streak (14-0-2) vs. BSC opponents.
OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION: Campbell's 8-0 goal vs. Presbyterian (Mar. 20) tied CU's 3rd-highest offensive production ever in a Big South regular season contest after an 11-0 win over Armstrong State on Oct. 27, 1986, a 9-1 win over Augusta on Oct. 4, 1986 and an 8-0 win Oct. 28, 2019 vs. Longwood. From the start of the 1987 season until Oct. 28, Campbell had scored seven goals in a game 13 times, most recently Oct. 19, 2019 at UNC Asheville.
HOME, SWEET HOME: The Camels stand 17-1-2 in their last 20 matches at the Eakes Complex, including a 5-1-0 mark this season. CU finished the 2019 season 10-0-1 at home, including two wins in the Big South Championship, outscored its opponents 34-3 in Buies Creek and did not trail in 11 matches. Under 6th-year Coach
Dustin Fonder, Campbell is 32-16-3 in Buies Creek.
BIG SOUTH WEEKLY HONORS: After its 8-0 win over Presbyterian on Mar. 20, Campbell swept the Big South Conference weekly awards.
Jake Morris (2G, 1A) was named offensive player of the week,
Franck Momo (1G, 1A) was named defensive player of the week and
Tyler Young (2G, 1A) was named freshman of the week...
Sami Charaf Amal (freshman) and
Alex Egeonu (offensive) also earned weekly recognition on Mar. 30. Amal was also named freshman of the week Apr. 12.
SECOND HALF STRENGTH: In the 2nd half alone this season, the Camels have outscored their 11 opponents by a 20-3 edge, including a 17-0 margin vs. Big South opponents...
MOVING UP THE LIST: Senior GK
Samuel Lechuga now has 21 shutouts in his career to rank T2nd on the CU all-time list. Lechuga tied a school mark with 9 solo shutouts in 2019 when his 0.77 GAA was 2nd-lowest in CU history... Peter Moore (1986-89) owns the school shutouts mark with 24, followed by Aaron Johnson (2005-08) and Lechuga (2018-present).
POST-SEASON IN THE CREEK: Under Coach
Dustin Fonder's guidance, Campbell owns a 4-1 record in Big South tournament games played in Buies Creek, including a 2-0 record in 2019.
CAMELS IN THE BIG SOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP: Campbell won the first two Big South Conference tournament championships in 1984 and 1985, and also won back-to-back crowns in 1991 and 1992 before claiming the 2018 and 2019 titles. CU was runner-up in 1986, 1989 and 1993 before leaving for a 17-year stint in the Atlantic Sun. Overall, the Camels are 22-11-4 in Big South Championship play, including a 5-4-3 mark since re-joining the league in 2011. Campbell is 6-3 all-time in Big South finals, 1-1 in Big South title games played in Buies Creek. Before its 2018 run to the Big South crown, CU last reached a conference final in 2008 (losing 4-3 to Jacksonville in Buies Creek) while a member of the A-Sun and its previous league tournament title came in 2007 over Jacksonville (1-1 draw, 5-4 PKs) at DeLand, Fla.
