Sept. 8, 2015
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COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina (2-1-1) returned home and collected a 3-3 tie against UNC Greensboro (2-1-1) in front of 2,906 fans at Stone Stadium on Tuesday night. Junior midfielder Danny Deakin tallied all three goals, the first hat trick for a Gamecock in 14 years.
Deakin opened the scoring in the 36th minute, getting the touch pass at the top of the 18 from redshirt senior Asa Kryst as he redirected the long cross from junior Koty Millard. Six minutes later, he made it 2-0 as he blasted the free kick into the upper right 90 of the goal from 29 yards away.
The Spartans drew within one after half on Damieon Thomas’ flick header from the 18 in the 58th minute. Deakin stretched the South Carolina advantage back to two with his 61st-minute shot from inside the box, collecting the rebound off senior Ryan Arambula’s blocked shot outside of the penalty area.
UNC Greensboro made it a one-goal affair again in the 70th on Nicholas Downs’ hard shot from the close left wing that went off a Gamecock defender’s foot and in on the near post. With five minutes to go, the Gamecocks were called for a foul in the box. Spartan Leeroy Maguraushe knocked in the subsequent penalty to knot the match at 3-3. Both teams had shots in the extra 20 minutes, but none found the goal, resulting in the tie.
Steady rain made for wet conditions in the early part of the match, but it ceased later in the first half, never returning.
Game Changer:
The foul in the 85th minute brought about the game-tying goal.
Key Stat:
Deakin became the first Gamecock since Jordan Quinn to record a hat trick. Quinn netted his on Sept. 9, 2001 against TCU.
Notables:
• Six Gamecocks played all 110 minutes, while only four Spartans did.
• Deakin fired five of South Carolina’s 13 shots in the match, with all three of his shots on goal scoring.
• Three Gamecocks had two shots each: Kevin Walker, Jeffrey Torda and Peyton Ericson.
• It’s South Carolina’s first tie since Oct. 30, 2013, which came in a scoreless game at FIU.
Tweet of the Game:
Stone Stadium post-rainfall @GamecockMSoccer pic.twitter.com/PWqxPWdIAb
— Austin Myers (@AustinMyers_) September 8, 2015
Quotable:
Head coach Mark Berson
“In the end, you have to credit UNC Greensboro. They were down. They played well. I think we played a very good first half and not a very good second half.
On Danny Deakin:
Danny was exceptional, not just the goals but the work rate, effort and leadership (in) an outstanding effort by him. We’re very excited about what Danny brings to our team.
On some injuries that are hampering the team:
We did miss Kurtis (Turner) in the middle of the midfield. That hurt. We missed Bjorn (Gudjonsson), who was hurt the other day in practice. We really didn’t have the opportunity to roll with some of the defensive players we’d like to (due to injury), We’d like to get them back. Those kind of things add up a little bit in overtime when you don’t have the depth you’d like.
Up Next:
South Carolina hits the road for its next two matches, taking on two NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago. The stretch begins on Saturday night at UNC Wilmington. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.
