USC looks to earn second straight victory in midweek matchup against Demon Deacons
With only one loss at home, the Gamecocks will look to quiet Wake Forest tonight in their third straight match at Stone Stadium.
Coming off a 2-1 win over High Point on Sunday, coach Mark Berson hopes to begin the team’s first winning streak of the season against the Demon Deacons.
“I think that we will look to gain confidence from the fact that we scored two goals [and] gain confidence from the fact that we limited our opponent to one goal,” Berson said. “We are just going to try and get in there and really play our best game of the year against a really good Wake Forest team.”
The Deacons come into Columbia with a 4-3-1 record but will be pitted against a Carolina team that dealt them a 1-0 loss last season.
Forward Bradlee Baladez was the lone goal-scorer in that game, but the win was sustained by a shutout from former USC keeper Jimmy Maurer. Maurer racked up a total of seven saves during that match, leaving big shoes for replacement Alex Long to fill. Berson said Long has performed well so far and has earned his confidence going into the upcoming match.
“I think Alex has been working hard. He has been improving and this will be another big challenge,” Berson said. “It is not just Alex, it’s this whole team defensively. Again, this is a team we are going to have to play a very good game [against], both attacking and defending, and I think we will.”
Berson said that although the match should be a challenge, he believes both teams will be pretty evenly matched.
“[This matchup] is two teams in kind of the same situation that are going to be really fighting hard to improve their records and move forward,” Berson said. “They are a very good team. They are very well-coached, they are very well organized and it’ll be a really tough game. We won up there 1-0 last year, a really hard-fought, tough game, so we are expecting it will be another really good game this year.”
Baladez was taken out of the High Point match along with Mike Mangotic because of injuries, but both managed to return in the 71st minute. Berson said both players will be ready to contribute when the clock starts tonight against Wake Forest.
“[Mangotic and Baladez] are both pretty tough customers, and they both took some pretty hard shots, but they came back in the game,” Berson said. “They’ll be ready.”
Berson said he hopes the Graveyard will provide a strong home field advantage and allow the Gamecocks to pull out a much-needed victory.
“It will be a huge advantage for us to be playing at home,” Berson said. “The student support really helps power this team. That home field advantage, that home crowd really helps us.”