The South Carolina men's soccer team ended its Thursday night match against the Old Dominion Monarchs in a 1-1 draw at Stone Stadium.
The Monarchs were able to get two shots on goal in the first 20 minutes of the match, forcing sophomore goalkeeper Filip Versterre to make two saves early on.
In the 25th minute, graduate defender Teagan Dunne found junior forward Lewis Rourke on a cross. Rourke was then able to head the ball past Versterre to put the Monarchs on top.
Just three minutes later, South Carolina evened up the score to 1-1, after senior goalkeeper Michael Statham deflected a corner kick into his own goal. Senior midfielder Alexander Stjernegaard was credited for the goal, as he was the last Gamecock to touch the ball.
Neither team was able to find the tie-breaking goal in the final 17 minutes of the first half, despite both squads getting shots on target. South Carolina had two shots on goal in the final minute.
The Monarchs nearly found their second goal of the game just 90 seconds into the second half; however, Versterre was able to make a save to keep the score tied.
South Carolina's offense was unable to create many chances in the second half, with the only two shots coming from senior defender William Nilsson and sixth-year defender Andrew Goldsworthy.
With neither team able to find a tie-breaking goal, the match ended in a 1-1 draw. This is just the second time in 19 meetings that the two programs have ended a game in a tie.
Gamecocks without top scorer
South Carolina was without its leading goalscorer senior midfielder Ethan Ballek. Ballek has scored five goals this season, as well as racking up four assists.
The Gamecocks did have their next three leading goalscorers, with Velazquez-Lopez, senior forward Tyler Trimnal and junior midfielder Mika Habel, who each have three goals this season.
All three of these players saw at least 60 minutes of action tonight, as well as getting at least one shot on goal each. However, the trio was unsuccessful in finding the go-ahead goal that would have given South Carolina the lead.
Defenses control match
Both goalkeepers for South Carolina and Old Dominion had plenty to deal with in the first half, with each of them making three saves. One of Versterre's saves came in the 34th minute when he was able to block a powerful shot from the Monarchs.
In the second half, Versterre only had to make one save while Statham did not have to make any. Even though Old Dominion did have five shots in the second half, four of the five were off-target or deflected by another Gamecock.
Senior Night
South Carolina honored 11 seniors before the match, including Nilsson and defender Junior Saint Juste, who have each spent their entire collegiate careers with the Gamecocks.
Entering the game tonight, Nilsson had started 56 of his 60 career games for South Carolina, including all 16 in his freshman season. Nilsson scored his only two goals in his junior season against Georgia State and James Madison.
Juste began his collegiate career starting 15 games for the Gamecocks, and he was able to score one goal against Queens. After playing in 15 games again the following year, Juste has played in just seven games since.
What’s next?
The Gamecocks will head to Lexington, Kentucky, to face the Kentucky Wildcats on Oct. 19. The game will begin at 3 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+.