Soccer faces challenging non-conference schedule
"Our expectation is to be on that level, so there is no added pressure for us," head coach Mark Berson said. "This is what our guys sign up for when they come to play at South Carolina. They come to play for championships."
Even though Southern Methodist, the 2011 Conference USA tournament winners, defeated the Gamecocks twice last season, including an early exit in the conference tournament, South Carolina beat out the Mustangs by one vote to be picked the preseason favorite to win the conference.
"It was a wonderful compliment from the other coaches to vote us No. 1 this year," Berson said. "But it really doesn't matter to us because we know how tight it's going to be. This conference is very deep with five teams that could make the tournament, and honestly I don't think this league will be decided until the last week of the season."
Berson's 2012 squad boasts seven Champs l Cont. from B7 returning starters from last year's championship team, including preseason all-conference forward Bradlee Baladez, who led Gamecocks in goals scored in 2011 with seven in 19 appearances.
"Everything starts with the team for us," Baladez said. "It would be easy to lose focus with all these accolades, but the main focus for this season is to keep getting wins and striving for success."
Other key players from last year are looking to keep their form the same as it was last season. Midfielders J.P. Rafferty and Braeden Troyer both notched two goals each in South Carolina's first preseason win against Georgia State. Baladez also scored two goals in a win against Elon, so last year's starters haven't shown signs of rust.
"That group of players really came in fit this season, which is a testament to their dedication, and I give them full credit for that," Berson said. "And it is a huge positive that your veterans can come in this ready and make the preseason run a lot more smoothly."
As for the four spots that will not be held by returning starters, Berson was confident those spots won't be of any trouble to him or his team. According to Berson, his club's quality and depth is one of its biggest strengths.
"We'll have a number of guys in a number of spots that will be stepping up, and what we have is a really good depth," Berson said. "This is not an 11-man team; it's more of a 16- to 18-man team. We'll see as the season moves along how this depth will help us."
With a solid preseason so far, the Gamecocks look to avoid last season's pitfalls and start out slowly. Last year South Carolina started out 2-4-1 before finishing the season out 9-7-3. With similar tough nonconference games like No. 20 Northwestern and No. 15 St. Johns, South Carolina will be tested early again this season.
"Our schedule this year is going to be one of the toughest, just like it was last year," Berson said. "We may not have a glittering record to start the season, but we're getting better, and it's a new page this year, so I don't know what we're going to do. But that tough start will help our RPI and will let us know what we need to fix before we head into the conference schedule."