Sept. 7, 2007
STORRS, Conn. – The 15th-ranked South Carolina men’s soccer team suffered its first lost of the season on Friday night, falling in a 3-0 decision to No. 14 Connecticut in its opening game at the UConn adidas Classic. With the loss, Carolina falls to 2-1 for the year, while the Huskies improve to 3-0.
The Gamecocks tallied just three shots in the contest, compared to 20, including 12 on goal by the Huskies. Freshman forward Blake Brettschneider, junior midfielder David Smith and sophomore defender Mark Wiltse each contributed one shot for Carolina.
“Tonight we got out-played by UConn from wire to wire,” Carolina head coach Mark Berson commented. “Jimmy Maurer had a tremendous game for us in goal, but we were just not able to sustain the possession that we needed to take pressure off of us throughout the match. The first 15 minutes of the game we had some good chances, but we weren’t able to get our foot on the ball and get control of the game. We have a tough job now to rebound in less than 24 hours to play a very good South Florida team.”
USC played an extremely physical match, committing 20 fouls against eight by the UConn defense. Maurer allowed three goals, while adding nine saves for the Gamecocks in the loss. Huskie goalkeeper Josh Ford made one save in the winning effort.
O’Brian White led Connecticut with two goals, finishing one in each half, while Chakwudi Chijindu also contributed one goal for UConn.
Despite early chances by the Carolina offense, UConn dominated the first half, taking a 2-0 lead into the halftime break after goals by White and Chijindu. White’s second goal of the contest in the 73rd minute extended the Huskie lead to 3-0, and Carolina was unable to mark the scoreboard the remainder of the half.
The Gamecocks return to action on Saturday in their final game of the UConn adidas Classic, facing South Florida at 4 p.m. Visit gamecocksonline.com for continuous updates on Carolina men’s soccer and all of USC’s athletics programs.
