2005 Season Schedule
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May 13, 2005

COLUMBIA, S.C. –

University of South Carolina men’s soccer coach Mark Berson has announced the 2005 schedule and the Gamecocks’ slate includes eight matches against teams that played in the 2004 NCAA Tournament. For just the third time in the 28-year history of the program, USC will have the opportunity to compete for a conference championship and automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament as the Gamecocks enter into Conference USA as a men’s soccer-only affiliate this season.

Carolina opens the season with a pair of matches against intrastate rivals. The Gamecocks kick off the campaign on the road against the Clemson Tigers on Friday, Sept. 2, and four days later on Sept. 6, the the team will make its home debut at Stone Stadium against College of Charleston.

USC will compete against regional rivals and 2004 NCAA Tournament participants North Carolina and Wake Forest at the Tar Heels’ classic on Sept. 9 and 11, before returning home for its own adidas/South Carolina Gamecock Classic, Sept. 16 and 18. On Sept. 16, College of Charleston and Loyola-Chicago will kick off the event with a 5 p.m. match, followed by USC and Penn and 7:30 p.m. The Cougars will play Penn at 1 p.m. on Sunday and the Gamecocks will battle Loyola at 3:30 p.m.

After matches with UNC-Wilmington (Sept. 21 in Columbia) and at Charlotte (Sept. 24), Carolina will play its inaugural Conference USA match at East Carolina on Oct. 2, the first of nine league matches. On the weekend of Oct. 7 and 9, the Gamecocks make their first C-USA road trip with games at Memphis and UAB. South Carolina will play its conference home opener on Friday, Oct. 14, against Kentucky and host Marshall on Sunday, Oct. 16.

League action continues on Oct. 21 at Florida International and on Oct. 23 at Central Florida. The Gamecocks wrap-up C-USA play in Columbia on Oct. 28 against Tulsa and on Oct. 30 versus SMU.

For just the third season in program history, the Gamecocks will not be an independent. USC competed in the Metro Conference during the 1993 and 1994 seasons, winning the 1993 crown. Only three Southeastern Conference schools, USC, Kentucky and Vanderbilt, sponsor men’s soccer, which is not enough to play a conference schedule. Kentucky is an affiliate member of C-USA and Vanderbilt competes in the Missouri Valley Conference.

Florida International joins UK and South Carolina as the three men’s soccer-only affiliates that were invited to join Conference-USA. Including the Gamecocks, six C-USA teams played in the 2004 NCAA Tournament, which matches the most of any league in the country. The league boasts four of the Top 10 winningest active coaches – Berson, SMU’s Schellas Hyndman, Marshall’s Bob Gray and FIU’s Karl Kremser.

In 2004, a young Carolina team that featured no seniors made the school’s 17th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and finished with a 12-7-1 record. Berson’s team returns 17 lettermen and nine starters in 2005. For season ticket information, please call 1-800-4SC-FANS or 803-777-4274.