Men’s soccer has had some highlights this season, and they have had some low points. Despite the hills and valleys of their short season so far, they still are leading in one important aspect of their game: the Conference USA standings.
South Carolina started their season hot, winning their two opening games against Mercer and Georgia Southern. Freshman Ben Davidson pulled off an outstanding free kick goal in the 2-1 win against Mercer, and senior Jeffrey Torda earned the number two spot on SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays with an aerial scissor kick against Georgia Southern. Everything looked according to coach Mark Berson’s plan, as the Gamecocks outplayed their opponents on both sides of the pitch.
Then the team hit a road snare.
South Carolina traveled up to Clemson to face their rivals at the beginning of September. Whatever confidence the Gamecocks had going into the game, the No. 9 Tigers crushed. Clemson dominated the game from kickoff, keeping the ball on the Gamecocks’ side for most of the first half. While the Gamecocks’ defense held its ground for a good bit, the Tigers’ Austen Burnikel assisted Oliver Shannon in the 26th minute for the first of three goals. Seven minutes later, Clemson’s T.J. Casner netted a ball on a fast break. Their final goal came in the 51st minute when Shannon bounced one off a Gamecock defender’s leg and into the net. The Gamecocks only had a handful of real chances with the Tiger’s keeper, Andrew Tarbell, having to get his jersey dirty two times. Clemson outshot South Carolina 19 to 12.
After the Clemson breakdown, the Gamecocks couldn’t make quick repairs. The team went on to tie their next game against UNC Greensboro 3-3, despite Danny Deakin’s incredible hat trick performance. Next game, they turned in their worst performance of the season to UNC Wilmington, losing 5-0.
For the following game, Berson made some necessary changes to his lineup to try to inject some fuel into his team. South Carolina played conference foes UAB on the road, and while it wasn’t pretty, they managed a 1-0 victory thanks to strong defense and Asa Kryst’s goal.
Once the streak was broken, the Gamecocks seemed as if they were back on track and firing on all cylinders. Against arguably their toughest opponent all year, No. 8 Elon, South Carolina turned in an impressive 3-1 victory Tuesday night.
The Gamecocks led early thanks to senior Kevin Walker’s goal from a bad Elon clearance. The Phoenixes tied it up at 1-1 in the 50th minute with a free kick goal by Eduardo Alvarez, Elon’s leading scorer. Around the 71st minute, Deakin matched Alvarez’s free kick with one of his own, curling the ball around the wall and into the back of the net. His trickler from inside the box sealed the win in the 88th minute. Deakin now leads the team in scoring with six goals in seven games.
Now, like Berson said, the Gamecocks must continue to ride their momentum if they want to clench a win against a strong New Mexico team.
“New Mexico is really a good team,” he said. “They’re similar to Elon. They’re very well organized, they’re technical, they’ve got good efficiency, they move the ball very well and they’ve got dangerous people.”
The Lobos, winners of their last five games, are a spot ahead of Elon in the NSCAA Coaches ranking at No. 7. They are 5-1-1 on the season with their only loss coming to then-ranked No. 1 UCLA, and on Friday, the Gamecocks have a chance to etch a second tally in their loss column. This is especially vital since New Mexico was considered to be an early favorite to win Conference USA.
The game is Friday at Stone Stadium at 7 p.m. It looks like it’s going to be a wet one, as the forecast calls for rain.