Oct. 27, 2004
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The 25h-ranked University of South Carolina men’s soccer team fell to cross-state rival Furman, 1-0, on Wednesday night at Stone Stadium in Columbia. The Gamecocks surrendered an own goal on a corner kick and failed to put a goal away of their own in the loss. USC’s record slipped to 9-5-1 while Furman improved to 5-8-1.
“It’s important to put your chances away,” Carolina coach Mark Berson said. “We out-shot them 12-4 in the first half and had a number of opportunities we didn’t capitalize on.”
In addition to out-shooting Furman, South Carolina created a pair of near goals. In the opening half
With just over 12 minutes to play in the half, freshman Sebastian Lindholm played a short corner kick to Eric Szeszycki. Szeszycki returned the ball and Lindholm launched a shot from 15-yards out on the right side. The ball bounced through the box, but a Furman defender stepped in to save the shot from going in at the last moment.
Five minutes later, the Gamecocks nearly put one away again. Junior Josh Alcala drove through multiple Furman defenders and just got a shot off from 12-yards out. The shot trickled toward the goal behind Paladin goalkeeper Alex Maslow. A Furman defender was there once again to save the ball off the line.
After a scoreless first half, the Paladins came out with more energy in the second half, and forced Gamecock goalkeeper Brad Guzan to make six saves. Furman finished with 10 shots in the second half, but USC was not without its opportunities.
Sophomore Michael Sambursky and junior Ryan Deter almost hooked up for a goal with just 22 minutes remaining the match. On a run, Sambursky played a beautiful cross to Deter just outside the six-yard box, but Deter lifted a shot over the goal and out of play.
Furman went ahead, 1-0, at the 57:37 mark. Josh Villalobos attempted a corner kick from the right side of the goal and it sailed to the far side of the box, hit off a Carolina player and bounced in for the decisive goal of the match.
USC out-shot Furman 22-14 overall and forced Maslow to come up with five saves. The Paladins attempted nine corner kicks to just five for the Gamecocks.
The Gamecocks play at home again on Sunday, Oct. 31. USC will host the Duke Blue Devils at 2 p.m. All fans wearing a Halloween costume to the match get in free.
“We’ve got to continue to work.” Berson said. “We know what we do well by this point in the season and we need to make sure we execute and capitalize on our chances. We need to pick ourselves up and be ready to play against Duke, one of the top teams in the country this season.”
