Men's Soccer . May 21, 2014

Men's Soccer Announces 2014 Schedule

May 21, 2014

COLUMBIA, S.C. – University of South Carolina head men’s soccer coach Mark Berson announced the full schedule for the upcoming 2014 campaign on Wednesday. The Gamecocks have 13 home dates, including two exhibitions, in their 37th season of varsity soccer at South Carolina.

The schedule features regular season contests against three teams ranked in the final 2013 NSCAA Top 25 and six teams that competed in the 2013 NCAA Tournament, including College Cup participant New Mexico. South Carolina travels to No. 15 Coastal Carolina (Sept. 12) and hosts No. 23 Charlotte (Oct. 4) before going west to No. 4 New Mexico for the regular season finale on Nov. 7. The Gamecocks went 2-1 against the teams in 2013, posting a 2-1 road victory over eventual C-USA tournament champion Charlotte, and giving C-USA regular season champ New Mexico their lone loss in conference play with a 1-0 overtime win. South Carolina fell 3-1 on the road to Coastal Carolina, who has won the last three Big South regular season championships.

Exhibition play begins at home against USC Upstate on Aug. 16. A second exhibition follows at Stone Stadium on Aug. 19 with 2013 NCAA Tournament participant Elon. A trip to Furman (Aug. 23) to face former Gamecock All-American and assistant coach Doug Allison’s squad in Greenville, S.C., completes pre-season play.

The Gamecocks begin the 2014 campaign with their first-ever meeting with Belmont (Aug. 29). The match is the backend of the first of two doubleheaders with women’s soccer in 2014. Archrival Clemson, a 2013 NCAA Tournament team, visits the Graveyard on Sept. 2, and contests with Mercer (Sept. 7) and UNC Wilmington (Sept. 12) close out the first of two four-game stretches at Stone Stadium.

Up next, a pair of games on the road against NCAA Tournament teams Coastal Carolina on Sept. 16 and East Tennessee State on Sept. 19.

South Carolina returns to Stone Stadium for another string of four home matches, including the start of Conference USA play. The Gamecocks hosts UNC Greensboro on Sept. 23, before their first league match against Marshall on Sept. 26. In the second doubleheader with the women’s soccer team, South Carolina and the Thundering Herd are set to take the pitch after the women open their home SEC slate against Missouri. Georgia State visits the Graveyard on Sept. 30, and South Carolina returns to conference action on Oct. 4 with Charlotte at home.

Four of the Gamecocks’ final seven matches are on the road, beginning with a trip to Miami to take on Florida International on Oct. 8. UAB visits Stone Stadium on Oct. 11. Then the Gamecocks head to Florida for the second time in three games, this time to face FAU (Oct. 18).

South Carolina wraps up its non-conference slate with a home contest vs. NC State (Oct. 21). Then, the final three regular-season conference matches begin with the regular-season home finale against Kentucky on Oct. 25. The Gamecocks close out league play on the road at Old Dominion (Oct. 29) and with a visit to College Cup participant New Mexico on Nov. 7.

The Conference USA Tournament will be held at a to be announced location on Nov. 12-16, with NCAA Tournament play to begin the following week.