July 26, 2006

The University of South Carolina men’s soccer team’s 2006 recruiting class has been ranked No. 19 by College Soccer News. Carolina also appeared at No. 29 in the online publication’s preseason top-20 poll.

South Carolina is coming off a season that produced a Conference USA Championship and automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament in 2005. Head coach Mark Berson returns eight starters, including four all-Conference USA players, from the 12-7-2 team. The Gamecocks welcome 12 freshmen to the 2006 roster that features a strong class of six seniors.

Senior Mike Sambursky earned first-team all-conference and first-team all-South Region honors last year and led the team in scoring with 24 points on eight goals and eight assists. Sophomore goalkeeper Mike Gustavson was Conference USA’s Freshman of the Year in 2005 and a member of the league’s second team. Senior back Ryan Leeton and senior midfielder Ralph Pace were named to the all-conference third team a year ago.

The Gamecocks’ incoming class of freshmen features five high school All-American and seven players from The Palmetto State. The group includes Mario Burstein (Marietta, Ga.), Andrew Evans (Cayce, S.C.), Paddy Flynn (Columbia, S.C.), Trey Foster (Fort Mill, S.C.), Jamal Geathers (Aiken, S.C.), Cory Lewis (Alpharetta, Ga.), Brian Przybyla (Sumter, S.C.), Schuyler Reardon, (Aiken, S.C.), Sam Roca (Wayne, N.J. ), Jeff Scannella (Alpharetta, Ga.), Mark Wiltse (Belle Mead, N.J.), Matt Winstead (Columbia, S.C.).

South Carolina opens the 2006 campaign in less than a month when cross-state rival Clemson visits Columbia on Aug. 25. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Stone Stadium.

2006 College Soccer News Preseason Top-30 National Poll1. Maryland2. Southern Methodist3. North Carolina4. Connecticut5. Penn State6. Virginia7. Akron8. UCLA9. New Mexico10. Creighton11. South Florida12. Duke13. Indiana14. California15. Clemson16. Notre Dame17. St. John's18. UNC-Greensboro19. Wake Forest20. Old Dominion21. UC Santa Barbara22. San Francisco23. Cal State Northridge24. San Diego State25. Virginia Tech26. Santa Clara27. St. Louis28. Wisconsin-Milwaukee29. South Carolina30. Ohio State
Others Receiving Votes: Oregon State, Seton Hall, Hartwick,LMU, N.C. State, Brown, Hofstra, Dartmouth, Washington,Vermont, Duquesne, Wisconsin, UC Irvine, James Madison, Rutgers