SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford women's soccer team fell to the USC Upstate Spartans 1-0 in an intense season opener at Snyder Field on Thursday night. The contest was the first for head coach Kevin Dempsey leading the Terriers.

The Terriers started off strong with immediate offensive pressure on the Spartans with Ines Obradovac striking in the seventh minute with a high shot attempt.

The Terriers' defense was holding strong with not allowing a single shot attempt by the Spartans for the first 19 minutes of the match. However, an own goal at the 19:16 mark put the Spartans on the board first.

Despite this, the Terriers kept fighting with a save by Elizabeth Navola in the 21^st minute on a shot attempt by the Spartans, and Ellie Gower answering back with a shot attempt of her own, forcing a corner kick.

In a physical back and forth with the Spartans, the Terriers closed off the first half with their third shot attempt by Charlotte Simas in the 42^nd minute.

Coming back from the half, the Spartans struck first with back-to-back shot attempts. The Terriers' defense didn't give up with Navola holding tight with another save at the 60^th minute.

In her collegiate debut, Emma Valdes came off the bench to strike first for the Terriers with a high shot attempt in the 67^th minute.

With the clock ticking closer to the end, the Terriers tightened up their defense, not allowing the Spartans to have any shot attempts for the remainder of the game.

Annie Andrews and Sydney Soehn closed off the match with two more shot attempts by the Terriers, but none were able to connect.
 
Freshman Julia Grier made her collegiate debut as a starter, finishing the match with the third most minutes played (86) for Wofford.

The Terriers and Spartans were evenly matched with both teams having six shot attempts and four corner kicks each. Navola totaled three saves on the night while USC Upstate had zero.

The Terriers will bounce back at home on Sunday, August 17, with a matchup versus UNC Asheville set for 7:00 p.m.