Coach Mark Berson remains one career win short of 450
South Carolina men’s soccer coach Mark Berson will be stuck at 449 career wins for at least a few more days.
No. 4 North Carolina looked the part Tuesday night at Stone Stadium, scoring twice in both halves en route to a 4-0 victory over the Gamecocks.
In the process, the Tar Heels prevented Berson, a UNC graduate, from reaching the 450 win plateau in what would have been a storybook manner.
“Not a good night to not play well,” Berson said. “I don’t think we played well in any aspect this evening, and it’s been a while since that was the case.”
USC, which entered the night having won seven of its last eight matches and playing on “a steady incline” in Berson’s words, hung with UNC early on. But the Tar Heels took control 29 minutes in when Rob Lovejoy scored off a cross from Ben Speas for a 1-0 lead.
About eight minutes later, Kirk Urso connected on a 40-yard strike to make it 2-0 before halftime. A converted penalty kick by Billy Schuler in the 62nd minute gave UNC its third goal of the match, while the tailender score came from Speas in the 65th.
UNC was dominant with the ball, outshooting the Gamecocks 20-4 with seven corner kicks to USC’s four. It was a bounce back offensive showing for the Tar Heels, who had scored just once in their last two matches — a 1-0 upset at the hands of Davidson and a 1-1 double overtime tie with Atlantic Coast Conference foe Maryland.
“When we only get four shots on goal, that’s not good enough,” Berson said. “I just don’t think that we played as well as we need to play against a very good team. And when you don’t, this is the result.”
Berson said the missed chance at the milestone victory won’t weigh on him or the team, nor is it something he’s eager to get out of the way.
“That’s a great thing when it happens, but that’s the least of what we’re worried about right now,” Berson said.
USC will return to league play Nov. 1 at Central Florida in what will be a pivotal matchup in the Conference USA title race.
With two regular season matches remaining, USC currently leads the league with a 5-1-1 conference mark, and UCF holds third place at 3-1-1. UAB is second with a 4-1-1 record in C-USA play. The Gamecocks will head into the stretch run “humble,” Berson said, after the poor performance against UNC. But at the same time, USC knows what it has in front of it as well as what it needs to improve upon.
“We have a lot to look forward to,” Berson said. “Tonight, we didn’t answer the bell. That’s rare for us, but sometimes it happens.”