Sept. 15, 2014

South Carolina at Coastal Carolina
CCU Soccer Stadium – Conway, S.C.
Tues., Sept. 16, 7 PM
Big South Network Video | | @GamecockMSoccer

14 SC Men’s Soccer Notes-9/15

14 SC Men’s Soccer Stats-9/7

Brad Muller’s feature on Jeff Addai

South Carolina Team Notes

• The 3-0 start was South Carolina’s best since 2004, when it won its first four matches.
• The Gamecocks stand with an all-time record of 454-201-68 (.675).
• Sophomore goalkeeper Marco Velez won two honors, the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week and the Disney Soccer/NSCAA Player of the Week on Sept. 8-9.
• It’s Velez’s second C-USA weekly honor, matching his award on Oct. 28, 2013, as a freshman.
• He’s the first national player of the week for SC since Bradlee Baladez took the College Soccer News award on Oct. 4, 2010.
• The last Gamecock to earn NSCAA Player of the Week was Ayo Akinsete on Oct. 25, 2006.
• Senior defender Mahamoudou Kaba took a spot on CSN’s Team of the Week, the first national honor of his this year.
• Kaba also garnered the C-USA Preseason Defensive Player of the Year award.
• Ranked 17th in the Sept. 9 NSCAA/Continental Tire poll, South Carolina is ranked for the first time since the last regular season poll of 2011 (23rd).

Berson Trying to Move up NCAA Coaching Wins List

• The only head coach in South Carolina men’s soccer history, Mark Berson ranks as one of four coaches in NCAA Division I history with 450 wins at one institution.
• Berson owns 465 career victories, which includes his 11 in 1977 at The Citadel.
• His next win ties him with former SMU coach Schellas Hyndman for 6th on the NCAA Division I wons list and 17th on the all-divisions listing.
• He’s coached 11 players who have captured 13 All-America nods at South Carolina.

Troyer Named a Senior CLASS Award Candidate

• On Sept. 2, the Senior CLASS Award announced its 30 candidates for its men’s award, naming Gamecock Braeden Troyer to the list.
• Troyer leads all SC returners with 10 career goals, tied for seventh in Gamecock history during the Conference USA era (since 2005).
• Twice he’s been named to the C-USA All-Academic Team, and he has three All-C-USA nods, (`12 second team, `11 & `13 third team).
• He also made the 2011 Conference USA All-Freshman Team and has been honored once on the College Soccer News Team of the Week (Sept. 29, 2013).
• On two occasions, CoSIDA has voted him on the Capital One Academic All-District 4 team.
• In the classroom, he’s been a member of the Honors College at South Carolina and earned three C-USA Academic Medals, given to student-athletes with a 3.75 GPA.
• He’s a co-captain in 2014 (along with Mahamoudou “Mo” Kaba).

Delays and Waiting Part of Gamecock Season

• The first three South Carolina games all came with some sort of delayed start.
• For the season opener against Belmont, the previous games at Stone Stadium pushed the start back to 9:37, over an hour later than the 8:30 PM scheduled start.
• Lightning in the Columbia area pushed back the start against No. 25/18 Clemson by 1:40.
• Heavy rains brought standing water to the Stone Stadium pitch for a time, but the field crew and event managers got it cleared and ready for a 7:15 PM kickoff, 15 minutes after the set time.

The Gamecocks Shine in the Classroom as Well

• South Carolina’s 18 returners have a total of 30 SEC Academic Honor Roll certificates and 31 Conference USA Academic Honor Roll notations between them.
• Of those, 10 are Conference USA Academic Medal mentions, which is awarded to student-athletes with a 3.75 cumulative GPA or higher.
• Four of the seniors, Robert Beebe, Mahamoudou “Mo” Kaba, Asa Kryst and Braeden Troyer have three certificates each.
• Troyer has three of those Academic Medals, while both Ryan Arambula and Jeffrey Torda have two.

We Scheduled Strong Foes

• Of the 17 regular-season matches scheduled this season for the Gamecocks, 12 come against top-100 RPI teams in the final 2013 report from the NCAA.
• Seven rank in the top 50, four from C-USA (Charlotte, UAB, Old Dominion & New Mexico).
• Four foes made the NSCAA/Continental Tire Preseason Top 25, well, 26 when you count Old Dominion tying for the 25th spot with Navy.
• The Gamecocks are 1-0-0 against a ranked team in 2014, beating No. 25/18 Clemson.

Gamecocks Have a Rich History in NCAA Tournament

• On 20 occasions, the Gamecocks made an NCAA Tournament, the most in Conference USA.
• Eleven times, the Gamecocks made the NCAA Tournament Round of 16.
• South Carolina is 16-19-1 in the tourney, making two College Cups in 1988 and 1993.

South Carolina Celebrating 10 Years in Conference USA

• The 2014 season is South Carolina’s 10th as a men’s soccer affiliate member of Conference USA.
• In 2011, the Garnet and Black captured the league’s regular-season crown, sharing it with UAB.
• Twice, the Gamecocks have won the league’s tournament (2005 and 2010).
• South Carolina’s student-athletes have taken 40 all-league nods, with 14 coming on the first team.
• In C-USA outings, South Carolina owns a 35-23-16 (.581) mark. At Stone Stadium, that record is 19-11-6 (.611).

Gamecocks vs. Ranked Foes

• South Carolina is 32-53-9 (.386) against foes ranked in the NSCAA top 25 (since 1996).
• Broken down by site, the Gamecocks are 17-24-4 (.422) at home, 11-18-5 (.397) on the road and 4-11 (.267) in neutral-site outings.
• In 2013, the Gamecocks went 2-2 against teams ranked in the NSCAA poll at the time of the game, including a 1-1 mark on the road.
• South Carolina has taken its last three meetings against a ranked team (No. 25 New Mexico on 10/26/13, No. 10 UAB on 11/3/13, No. 25 Clemson on 9/2/14).

Recent Dominance of Archrival Clemson

• Since 2007, the Gamecocks are 6-2 against their archrivals, with both of the losses coming in double overtime on the road (2011 & 2013).
• The last four matches at Stone Stadium have gone to the Gamecocks, three coming in shutouts.
• It’s the best stretch since the Gamecocks went 10-4 from 1985-95 against the Tigers, with three of the wins in that stretch coming in NCAA Tournament play.

Roster Notes

• South Carolina brought back 18 letter-winners to go with nine newcomers for 2014.
• The Gamecocks return 80 percent of their goals and 76 percent of their assists from last year.
• Included in that returning group is the top-two goal scorers (Jeffrey Torda and Mahamoudou Kaba) and the top-two assist distributors (Kurtis Turner and Ryan Arambula).
• Only one goalkeeper of three who played in 2013 is not back from last year (Chris Duzan, 30:19).
• Four Conference USA award winners return, including defenders Kaba and Braeden Troyer as well as 2013 All-Freshman Team members Turner (midfielder) and Marco Velez (goalkeeper).
• Both Kaba and Troyer made the C-USA Preseason team, with Kaba garnering the Defensive Player of the Year title.

Notes from SC’s Season Opening Win vs. Belmont

• Kurtis Turner’s 25-yard rebound in the 106th put SC over Belmont, SC’s 31st season-opening win.
• The Gamecocks outshot the Bruins 26-5 and had a 14-0 advantage in corner kicks.
• None of Belmont’s shots came on goal, while the Gamecocks made BU’s keeper make seven stops.
• The attendance of 5,415 ranks as the 4th-best in Stone Stadium history and 8th in the site’s history of men’s matches.

Scouting Coastal Carolina

• Coastal has a 2-2 record, falling at home to Furman on Friday night 1-0.
• The Chanticleers have a high-powered offense, posting multiple goals in every match before the Paladins posted a clean sheet.
• Seven starters return for coach Shaun Docking, including Big South Defensive Player of the Year Shawn McLaws.
• Also back is Devin Cook-Perales in goal, who had a 0.80 goals against average a year ago.
• Newcomer Bryce Follensbee has two goals on seven shots, while both Ricky Garbanzo and Elis Bjornsson both have four points on a goal and two assists.
• Both Garbanzo and Bjornsson have a game-winning goal this season.
• The senior Garbanzo had a team-best 13 goals last year for the Chanticleers.

Series History vs. Coastal Carolina

• The Chanticleers own a 6-2-1 advantage over the Gamecocks all-time.
• SC is winless in contests in Conway (0-1-1), including last season’s loss.
• Coastal Carolina has taken the last five matchups in the series, including last year’s meeting.
• In four of the last five contests in the series, Coastal has scored three goals.