South Carolina Squaring Off With UCF Sunday at 1 p.m.
Sept. 3, 2016
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COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina men’s soccer team (0-2-0) will play host to UCF (0-1-0) on Sunday at 1 p.m. in a replacement match for Friday’s cancelled game with Rutgers due to inclement weather from Hurricane Hermine. Since the UCF game was an addition to the schedule, admission will be FREE for everyone attending.
“We are really pleased that we were able to schedule this match with UCF,” said Head Coach Mark Berson. “Both of us had a match cancelled Friday due to weather, and it’s great that we could work this out. We played them for years when they were in Conference USA, so we’re aware of the high quality team they will bring to Stone Stadium on Sunday.”
The Gamecocks will continue to wear teal warmup shirts for the contest to help raise awareness for ovarian cancer (read below for more details).
GAMECOCK QUICK HITS
– Mark Berson is the winningest active NCAA Division I coach, 5th on the all-time NCAA D1 list
– Berson is tied for the most NCAA Tournament appearances among active DI coaches with 21
– South Carolina has two C-USA Tournament titles and two regular-season crowns in 11 years
– The 2015 Gamecocks advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament
– The Gamecocks return 17 letterwinners from last season’s squad
– South Carolina returns eight starters from last season’s squad
– The Gamecocks were undefeated at Stone Stadium last season with an 8-0-2 record
– Senior midfielder Danny Deakin leads the Carolina offense after scoring 11 goals last season
– Deakin and fellow senior Koty Millard were both named to the 2016 Preseason All-C-USA Team
– Deakin was named to the CollegeSoccerNews 2016 Preseason All-America Second Team
– The Gamecocks are set to face six teams that are also ranked in the NSCAA preseason list, including No. 3 Clemson, No. 5 Wake Forest, No. 21 Coastal Carolina, No. 22 Charlotte, No. 23 FIU and No. 25 Rutgers.
– South Carolina posted a 1-1 draw vs. No. 8 North Carolina in its second exhibition match
– The Gamecocks suffered a 2-1 loss vs. No. 3 Clemson in the 2016 season opener on Aug. 26
– Senior forward Kevin Walker scored Carolina’s goal vs. Clemson; it was his sixth as a Gamecock
– South Carolina fell 3-2 to Mercer in overtime on Aug. 30 after coming back from down 2-0 in the second half
– Freshman Luca Mayr scored his first career goal as a Gamecock in the match
– Deakin assisted on both goals vs. the Bears to notch his first two assists of the season
RECORD CROWD WATCHES SOUTH CAROLINA SEASON OPENER VS. CLEMSON
A new Stone Stadium attendance record was set last Friday in the 2016 season opener vs. Clemson, as 6,892 fans attended the matchup. The mark broke the previous record of 6,157, also set vs. Clemson on Sept. 3, 2010.
OVARIAN CANCER AWARENESS MONTH
The Carolina men’s soccer team is supporting Ovarian Cancer Awareness month in September by wearing teal warmup jerseys for their matches. In addition to the teal warm up jerseys and shoelaces for the South Carolina team, the Gamecock coaching staff and support staff will be wearing teal polo shirts, while the goalkeeper will be donning a teal jersey.
SCOUTING UCF
The Knights return six starters and 12 letterwinners from a squad that went 7-8-2 overall. Junior midfielder Matias Pyysalo is the top retuning scorer with 20 points (6G, 8A). Sophomore goalkeeper Brendan Rennie started the final seven matches for UCF, posting a 3-3-1 record with two shutouts and 24 saves. The Knights added 10 newcomers to their roster this offseason, including eight freshman and two transfers. Diego Bacellar, a senior transfer, was part of Creighton’s 2015 NCAA Elite Eight run, playing in four matches for the Blue Jays.
