CHARLESTON, S.C. – As the 2023 regular season comes to a close, the Charleston Southern women's soccer team find themselves in control of their own destiny as they battle the conference-leading USC Upstate Spartans at home on Wednesday.
 
The Bucs (8-4-4, 3-2-2 in conference) welcome the Spartans (10-2-4, 6-1 in conference), who are coming off of a 4-0 win over Presbyterian last Saturday and have not allowed a goal in two matches. Led by Head Coach Sharif Saber, who is in his second season in Spartanburg, the Spartans only two losses have come against Longwood, which was a conference loss and Wofford. Charleston Southern defeated Longwood in the conference opener and tied Wofford back on September 8^th.
 
The overall series history lies in favor of Charleston Southern, as they lead USC Upstate 6-5. The Bucs upset the Spartans on the road last year, scoring two goals in the first half to take a 2-0 win. The defeat was one of just two conference losses for the Spartans, who finished second in the Big South in 2022.
 
Charleston Southern is coming off of a big 1-0 win over UNC Asheville on Saturday, where two graduate students helped lead the way. Dakota Fiedler scored her third goal of the season in the second half on Saturday, and Jenna Moran put together her third shutout of the season.
 
Moran leads the conference with 73 saves and an .839 save percentage. Coming into the final match, she has 187 saves for her career, which puts her at seventh all-time, needing just one more to move up to sixth. With a 1.12 goals against average, she is fourth in school history in that regard, passing herself in 2020, where she average 1.15 goals against per match.
 
Conference Tournament Scenarios
For Charleston Southern to advance to the conference tournament for the first time since 2021, obviously, they will need to take care of business against the Spartans; however, if they are unable to do so, there are a few things that could happen.
 
The Bucs currently hold the fourth and final spot for the Big South Tournament in Matthews, N.C. starting on November 2^nd. Going into Wednesday, the Bucs are in control of their own destiny. They have the same conference record as the Longwood Lancers, who are currently in fifth place in the Big South and are on the outside looking in.
 
Because the two teams have the same record, Charleston Southern needs to match Longwood in order to punch their ticket. This means that if Charleston Southern were to lose on Wednesday, then they will need the Lancers to lose as well; however, if the Bucs tie the Spartans, then they will need a loss or a tie from the Lancers. Longwood battles Presbyterian College (2-4-1 in conference) on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in Clinton, S.C.
 
Charleston Southern could be as high as the no. 3 seed if a few things were to go right. They would need to beat USC Upstate as well as a High Point loss or tie against UNC Asheville to secure the no. 3 seed.
 
Match Details
Who: USC Upstate vs Charleston Southern
Where: CSU Soccer Complex
Kickoff: 3:05 p.m.
How to Watch: ESPN+