The Gamecock men's soccer team (7-9-2) was defeated 2-1 by the West Virginia Mountaineers (12-3-2) on Tuesday night at Stone Stadium.
The first half began with a series of corner kicks and missed shot attempts by both teams, with a string of counterattacks following. The Gamecocks were able to steal the ball back from the Mountaineers to acquire possession and set themselves up offensively to make big plays.
Senior midfielder Ethan Ballek scored the first goal after making a shot attempt over the head of a Mountaineer defender, with sophomore forward Loïc Sany Kong assisting on the play, leaving the score 1-0.
Following the goal, the rest of the half consisted of fouls on both teams as well as blocked shot attempts until a play by the Gamecocks was called for offsides. West Virginia acquired a free kick out of this call, but it was no good.
The half ended with a shot attempt by the Mountaineers that sophomore goalkeeper Filip Versterre saved.
The Gamecocks started the second with a foul, that ended up going under video review. As a result of the play, the Mountaineers were given a penalty kick.
Graduate defender Carlos Hernando was able to take advantage of the foul and penalty kick, making the score 1-1, equalizing the Mountaineers after a shot into the top center of the net after a dive left from Vesterre.
Following two fouls, a yellow card was shown to fifth-year Gamecock defender Galen Flynn after coming in as a substitute for redshirt senior defender Camden Kowalski. This was the result of an interaction near the Gamecock goal line.
Following a saved shot attempt and a Gamecock substitution, Ballek was also shown a yellow card after an interaction with a Mountaineer that left him down briefly on the field with a leg injury.
A West Virginia corner kick allowed the Mountaineers to set up for an opportunity to score after the second yellow card.
Senior midfielder Felix Ewald was able to score the second goal for the Mountaineers shortly after the corner kick with a shot into the left of the net, making the score 2-1 after almost 61 minutes.
A third yellow card of the night was shown to sophomore Mountaineer midfielder Nacho Martinez following the team's goal.
Senior defender William Nilsson and junior Mountaineer defender Thijs Veldhorst were also given yellow cards after two unrelated altercations, marking the game's fourth and fifth yellow cards.
Another yellow card was also shown to the Gamecock bench in reference to freshman forward Matthew DeJianne after a reaction to reviewed play.
The seventh and eighth yellow cards of the second half were shown to junior Mountaineer Constantinos Christou after a collision with Nilsson, and to the West Virginia head coach Dan Stratford.
The rest of the half consisted of missed shot attempts, leaving the shot attempts at a total of 17 for West Virginia and nine for South Carolina, with 13 of the combined shots on goal. The game ended on a foul by Nilsson.
What's Next?
The Gamecock men's soccer team will not advance to the Sunbelt Tournament after the loss to the Mountaineers.