Gamecocks Host Georgia State in Tuesday Night Action

Sept. 29, 2014

South Carolina Hosts Georgia State
Eugene E. Stone III Stadium – Columbia, S.C.
Tues., Sept. 30, 7 PM
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14 SC Men’s Soccer Notes-9/29

Feature on Braeden Troyer
Feature on Jeff Addai

South Carolina Team Notes

The Gamecocks have the fifth-highest paid attendance average in NCAA Division I, with 3,364 fans on average attending a match in 2014.
South Carolina has been a second-half team, winning more corner kicks (29-15) and shot chances (60-39) in the second 45 in their eight matches.
The Gamecocks stand with an all-time record of 455-204-68 (.673).
The 3-0 start was South Carolina’s best since 2004, when it won its first four matches.
Five Gamecocks have played every minute this year: seniors Mahamoudou Kaba and Braeden Troyer as well as sophomores Ive Burnett, Kurtis Turner and Marco Velez.
South Carolina was in the midst of a 332-minute scoring drought (not counting the own goal by ETSU) when Burnett snapped it in the 68th minute against UNC Greensboro.
Burnett had the goal before that as well in the ninth minute against UNC Wilmington.
The Gamecocks have taken 88 of their 121 shots in four home matches: Belmont, Mercer, UNC Greensboro and Marshall.
South Carolina’s remaining foes are 35-26-9, the 34th-toughest schedule according to the NCAA statistics database.
Ranked 17th in the Sept. 9 NSCAA/Continental Tire poll, South Carolina received its first ranking since the last regular season poll of 2011 (23rd).

Awards Came in Bunches in Second Week

Sophomore goalkeeper Marco Velez won two honors over Sept. 8-9, the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week and the Disney Soccer/NSCAA Player of the Week.
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.

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 466 career victories, which includes his 11 in 1977 at The Citadel.
His next win breaks a tie between him and former SMU coach Schellas Hyndman, standing alone in 6th on the NCAA Division I wins list and in 17th on the all-divisions listing.
With two more wins, Berson would join former Kean head coach Tony Ochrimenko in 16th on the all-divisions list.
He’s coached 11 players who have captured 13 All-America nods at South Carolina.
He’s also guided at least one player on each of the past four US Men’s National Teams in the World Cup (Clint Mathis 2002, Josh Woolf 2002 and 2006, Brad Guzan 2010 and 2014).

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 35-24-16 (.573) mark. At Stone Stadium, that record is 19-12-6 (.595).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.
Troyer has three of those Academic Medals, while both Ryan Arambula and Jeffrey Torda have two.
Four of the seniors, Robert Beebe, Mahamoudou “Mo” Kaba, Asa Kryst and Braeden Troyer have three certificates each.

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 site history.

Injuries Working Against Gamecocks

South Carolina has a number of veterans who have yet to play this season.
Senior goalkeeper Robert Beebe has missed every match since early in 2013 after an arm injury.
Out since early in the Clemson match has been senior forward Asa Kryst. He had taken one of the starting forward spots in preseason practice.
Also missing time have been senior Wesley Eads and junior Devin L’Amoreaux.

Scouting Georgia State

The Panthers have taken four straight to bring their record to 4-3 on the year.
Both teams have 2-1 wins over UNC Greensboro last week, while the Gamecocks downed Mercer 2-0, a team Georgia State fell to in the season opener 2-0.
Georgia State has played very even against its foes, with most stat categories a wash.
Senior goalkeeper C.J. Cochran has played every minute in goal for GSU, posting a 1.71 goals against average with 27 saves and one shutout.
Freshman Rashid Alarape is the only Panther with two goals, while both sophomroe Amiri Abraham and senior Stephen McGill have a goal and two assists.
Abraham led the offense last year with six goals, while sophomore Aaron Jones is the top returner in regards to assists, posting five last year.
Five other Panthers have goals on the year, with Alarape joined by three others with game-winners.

Series History vs. the Panthers

South Carolina has a 9-1 mark against Georgia State in history, with the Gamecocks picking up six-straight shutouts in the series.
The Gamecocks are 7-0 at “The Graveyard” against GSU.