Sept. 1, 2014

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina Hosts Clemson
Eugene E. Stone III Stadium – Columbia, S.C.
Tues., Sept. 2, 7 PM)
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14 SC Men’s Soccer Notes-9/1

Brad Muller’s feature on Jeff Addai

Info on SEC Network + games

South Carolina Team Notes

• South Carolina returns 18 letter-winners to go with nine newcomers for 2014.
• The Gamecocks return 80 percent of their goals and 76 percent of their assists from last year.
• Included in that returning group is the top-two goal scorers (Jeffrey Torda and Mahamoudou Kaba) and the top-two assist distributors (Kurtis Turner and Ryan Arambula).
• Only one goalkeeper of three who played in 2013 is not back from last year (Chris Duzan, 30:19).
• Four Conference USA award winners return, including defenders Mahamoudou “Mo” Kaba and Braeden Troyer as well as 2013 All-Freshman Team members midfielder Kurtis Turner and goalkeeper Marco Velez.
• Both Kaba and Troyer made the C-USA Preseason team, with Kaba garnering the Defensive Player of the Year title.
• The Gamecocks enter 2014 with an all-time record of 452-200-68 (.675).

SC’s Last Match

• Kurtis Turner’s 25-yard rebound in the 106th put SC over Belmont, SC’s 31st season-opening win.
• The Gamecocks outshot the Bruins 26-5 and had a 14-0 advantage in corner kicks.
• None of Belmont’s shots came on goal, while the Gamecocks made BU’s keeper make seven stops.
• The attendance of 5,415 ranks as the 4th-best in Stone Stadium history and 8th in site history.

Gamecocks Celebrating 10 Years in Conference USA

• The 2014 season is South Carolina’s 10th as a men’s soccer affiliate member of Conference USA.
• In 2011, the Garnet and Black captured the league’s regular-season crown, sharing it with UAB.
• Twice, the Gamecocks have won the league’s tournament (2005 and 2010).
• South Carolina’s student-athletes have taken 40 all-league nods, with 14 coming on the first team.
• In C-USA outings, South Carolina owns a 35-23-16 (.581) mark. At Stone Stadium, that record is 19-11-6 (.611).

Berson Ranks Among Top Coaches in NCAA History

• The only head coach in South Carolina men’s soccer history, Mark Berson ranks as one of four coaches in NCAA Division I history with 450 wins at one institution.
• With 463 career wins (including 11 in 1977 at The Citadel), he’s 7th on the NCAA Division I and 18th on the NCAA All-Divisions wins list, three in back of the retired Schellas Hyndman (SMU).
• He’s coached 11 players who have captured 13 All-America nods at South Carolina.

The Field’s Not The Only Place The Gamecocks Shine

• South Carolina’s 18 returners have a total of 30 SEC Academic Honor Roll certificates and 31 Conference USA Academic Honor Roll notations between them.
• Of those, 10 are Conference USA Academic Medal mentions, which is awarded to student-athletes with a 3.75 cumulative GPA or higher.
• Four of the seniors, Robert Beebe, Mahamoudou “Mo” Kaba, Asa Kryst and Braeden Troyer have three certificates each.
• Troyer has three of those Academic Medals, while both Ryan Arambula and Jeffrey Torda have two.

Troyer Chasing Spots in History

• Senior Braeden Troyer leads all returners with 10 career goals, tied for seventh in Gamecock history during the Conference USA era (since 2005).
• Twice he’s been named to the C-USA All-Academic Team, and he has three All-C-USA nods, (`12 second team, `11 & 13 third team).
• He also made the 2011 Conference USA All-Freshman Team.
• On two occasions, CoSIDA has voted him on the Capital One Academic All-District 4 team.

We Scheduled Strong Foes

• Of the 17 regular-season matches scheduled this season for the Gamecocks, 12 come against top-100 RPI teams in the final 2013 report from the NCAA.
• Seven rank in the top 50, four from C-USA (Charlotte, UAB, Old Dominion & New Mexico).
• Four foes made the NSCAA/Continental Tire Preseason Top 25, well, 26 when you count Old Dominion tying for the 25th spot with Navy.

Storied Rivalry Adds Another Chapter on Tuesday Night at The Graveyard

• South Carolina and Clemson tangle for the 42nd time on the pitch in men’s soccer on Tuesday.
• The squads have met in each of SC’s 36 seasons and includes five NCAA Tourney matchups.
• The Tigers hold an advantage in the series, 24-16-1, including in matches in Columbia, 11-8-1.
• Two long streaks make up most of the series, with the Tigers taking the first nine encounters and posting a nine-match unbeaten streak (8-0-1) from 1996-2003.
• Since 2004, the Gamecocks are 6-4 against their archrivals, with two of the losses coming in double overtime.
• The last three matches at Stone Stadium have gone to the Gamecocks, with all three clean sheets.

Scouting Clemson

• The Tigers lost three starters from last year’s 11-7-3 team that made the NCAA Tournament.
• In their fifth year under Mike Noonan, the Tigers posted their first winning record in 2013.
• They lost top scorer Thomas McNamara (7 g, 8 a) but bring back both goalkeepers who helped the team post a 0.91 goals against average.
• Sophomore Andrew Tarbell started 15 matches in goal with a 1.01 GAA, getting four shutouts.
• Seniors Ara Amirkhanian and Manolo Sanchez had six and five goals, respectively, and three assists each, ranking as the top scorers back for the Tigers.
• Sophomore Thales Moreno had the winner for Clemson in the 86th minute against Radford, assisted by junior T.J. Casner.

Gamecocks Have a Rich History in NCAA Tournament

• On 20 occasions, the Gamecocks made an NCAA Tournament, the most in Conference USA.
• South Carolina is 16-19-1 in the tourney, making two College Cups in 1988 and 1993.
• Eleven times, the Gamecocks made the NCAA Tournament Round of 16.