AIKEN, SC--The USC Aiken men's soccer team fell behind early and could not recover against USC Spartanburg (12-4-1) in the first round of the Peach Belt Conference Tournament as they lost 4-2 Wednesday night.  The loss ends the Pacers season with a 10-9-0 record, tied for the best in school history (1994).  Not only does the win boost the Rifles into the semifinals of the PBC, but it also avenges a early season 2-0 loss to the Pacers on September 8.

Spartanburg opened up with a direct kick-goal by Matti Uoti at the 3:20 mark and dominated the first half of play.  Tuomas Tahvnainen added two goals put the Rifles up 3-0 at half.

The Pacers came out of halftime with a purpose, attacking the net time after time.  The majority of play occurred on USCA's end as their defense upheld the Rifles' assault.  Senior Mark Turner finally connected in the 58th minute as Mamadou Ndoye's shot ricocheted off the cross bar and Turner was in the right spot for the score.

USCA remained aggressive, but could not convert on several opportunities.  Haroon Saleem's shot on goal in the 72nd minute appeared to have a clear path into the back of the net until USCS's defenseman Marlon Grant cleared it.

???????Tahvnainen seemed to put the game away with his third goal of the match with less than 14 minutes to play.  But Turner, who ended the season as the Pacers' leading scorer with 21, continued to keep the match close with another goal at 83:01 off an Andre Josephassist.  It proved to be too little too late as the final whistle blew on the Pacers' record-setting season.

Peter Calabrese and Jean-Pascal Bozso split time in goal for the Pacers completing just three saves on 13 shots.  The duo combined for a 1.67 goals against average for the season.  But it was the conference's second-best keeper John Andrew Rousseauwho contained USC Aiken's scorers for Spartanburg, recording six saves in 81 minutes of play before Ikka Kuusisto came off the bench to close out the match.

The 22nd nationally ranked Rifles now travel to PBC top-seed Clayton State (11-2-5) on Saturday, November 3 at 2:30 PM.  The Lakers defeated USCS 1-0 on October 23.

???????MATCH SUMMARY 
 

Score by Periods	1	2	Final
USC Spartanburg	3	1	4
USC Aiken	0	2	2

Scoring 
  USCS: Matti Uoti (direct kick, 3:20) 
  USCS: Tuoms Tahvnainen (Almir Barbosa, 11:25) 
  USCS: Tahvnainen (unassisted, 38:00) 
  USCA: Mark Turner (Mamadou Ndoye, 57:53) 
  USCS: Tahvnainen (unassisted, 76:24) 
  USCA: Mark Turner (Andre Joseph, 83:01)
Shots  USCA 18, USCS 13 
Cornerkicks USCA 3, USCS 3 
Fouls  USCA 16, USCS 21 
Offsides USCA 0, USCS 4 
Saves  USCA 3 (Peter Calabrese 2, Jean-Pascal Bozso 1), USCS 6 (John  Andrew Rousseau 6, Ikka Kuusisto 0) 
Cards  USCA: Yellow (Plamen Peev, 30:54) 
             USCS: none