Sept. 16, 2004
COLUMBIA, S.C. –
The No. 18/24 University of South Carolina men’s soccer team will look build on its current win streak this weekend when its travels to Philadelphia, Pa., for the Penn Soccer Classic. The Gamecocks will face a pair of teams from the Ivy League in the Classic, the host Penn Quakers and the Princeton Tigers. USC plays Penn on Friday, Sept. 17, at 2:30 p.m., and then battles Princeton on Sunday, Sept. 19, at Noon. Both matches will be played at Rhodes Field.
This weekend begins a stretch of four straight games away from the home for USC, the team’s longest road stretch of the season. The Gamecocks will play at Wake Forest on Sept. 24 and at Davidson on Sept. 29 before returning to the friendly confines of Stone Stadium in Columbia on Oct. 3 for a match with Gardner-Webb.
About the Gamecocks
The South Carolina men’s soccer team enters the weekend with a 4-0-0 record. The Gamecocks captured the title in their own adidas-South Carolina Classic last weekend with victories over No. 16 Portland and Bucknell.
Sophomore forward Ayo Akinsete leads the Gamecocks in scoring with six points on three goals through four games. Freshman forward Sebastian Lindholm is next with four points on a goal and two assists. South Carolina has scored eight goals to just three for its opponents and recorded two shutouts this season. Sophomore goalkeeper Brad Guzan, who played every minute in goal, has made 19 saves and owns an 0.75 goals-against average.
Gamecocks Break into Top 25
South Carolina made its 2004 debut in the national polls this week. The Gamecocks are ranked tied for No. 18 in the adidas/NSCAA Top 25 Poll. USC is 24th in the Soccer Times Top 25 Poll and 25th in the Soccer America Top 25 Poll. College Soccer News ranked the Gamecocks No. 27 this week.
Scouting the Opposition
Penn: The tournament host Penn Quakers come into the weekend with a 1-2-0 record. Penn opened the season with a 3-1 loss to Villanova. The Quakers then traveled to Milwaukee, Wis., for a pair of games. They fell to tournament host Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2-1, in overtime, but rebounded to defeat Wisconsin, 3-0.
Justin Estrada leads the Quakers with four points on one goal and two assists. Five different players have scored each of the team’s goals this season. Daniel Cepero has handled the goalkeeping duties, playing all 276:01 minutes in goal. He sports a 1.63 goals-against average and has collected 12 saves.
Penn, which plays in the Ivy League, finished wtih a 6-9-2 record in 2003. The Quakers return 16 letterwinners, including 10 starters, from that team. Head coach Brian “Rudy” Fuller is in his eighth season at the helm of Penn soccer.
Princeton: The Princeton Tigers bring a 2-1 record into the Penn Classic. The Tigers kicked off the season with a 3-2 victory over Loyola College. In its second game, the team suffered a tough, 6-0, loss at Akron, but bounced back to earn a 3-0 shutout win over Drexel on Tuesday.
Darren Spicer has scored four of Princeton’s six goals for a team-leading eight points. Erik White has played the majority of the minutes in goal. White has a 2.60 goals-against average to go with five saves and one shutout.
The Tigers had a record of 6-8-3 in 2003 and finished fourth in the Ivy League. Head coach Jim Barlow, who is in his ninth season at Princeton, has 22 lettermen and seven starters returning from that team.
Series History
The Gamecocks and Quakers will be playing for the first time ever on Friday, while USC has played the Tigers once before. South Carolina defeated Princeton, 3-1, in 1991. South Carolina is 2-1-0 all-time against team from the Ivy League. In addition to its win over Princeton, the Gamecocks are 1-1-0 against Brown.
Berson Among the Nation’s Elite Coaches
Mark Berson is in his 27th season as the head men’s soccer coach at South Carolina. Under Berson’s leadership, South Carolina has established itself as one of the nation’s premier soccer programs. The Gamecocks have earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament 16 times, including two trips to the final four, in the 26 years of the program’s existence.
Berson entered the season record of 367-131-2 in 27 seasons as a head coach. At South Carolina, he owns a 356-129-42 record, in 26 years.
Berson is among the nation’s elite coaches. Among active coaches, his 367 wins rank No. 5, and his .716 winning percentage is ninth. Berson’s winning percentage is No. 22 all-time in Division I history, and he has the 12th most wins in Division I history.
Youth Movement
Considering the perceived lack of experience on this year’s team, South Carolina’s 4-0 start is even more impressive. The Gamecock roster features no seniors and just four juniors. There are 15 players who are new to the team, and of those 15, 12 are true freshmen.
Classic Three-Peat
South Carolina won its home tournament, the adidas-South Carolina Gamecock Classic, for the third straight season. The Gamecocks used a 3-2 win over No. 16 Portland on Friday and a 1-0 victory over Bucknell on Sunday to capture the title.
The Gamecocks’ play over the weekend continues a long tradition of success in their home tournament. Of the 18 years South Carolina has hosted its annual Classic, the Gamecocks have won the event 14 times. Carolina boasts an impressive all-time record of 30-4-2 in its home tournament. USC won the inaugural tournament in 1987, and after failing to win the event for two consecutive years, captured seven straight titles from 1993 to 1999. The Gamecocks also finished first in 1990 and 1991.
All-Tournament Honorees
Four Gamecock players earned All-Tournament honors at the adidas-South Carolina Gamecock Classic. Sophomore Ayo Akinsete was named the tournament’s Offensive MVP after he scored two goal in USC’s win over No. 16 Portland. In addition, Josh Alcala, Makan Hislop and Mike Sambursky were lauded for their play.
Gamecocks Rank Third in South Region
South Carolina is ranked third in this week’s NSCAA South Region Poll, trailing only North Carolina-Greensboro and Wake Forest. Intra-state rival Clemson and Florida International, both of which are South Carolina opponents this season, are tied for fourth.
Akinsete Picking Up Where He Left Off
After leading South Carolina in scoring as a freshman, sophomore forward Ayo Akinsete has continued to display an offensive spark in the early going. Akinsete has scored three goals in four games, despite battling an ankle injury. Akinsete provided the game-winning goal in the Gamecocks’ 2-0 win at Winthrop on Sept. 4. Against 16th-ranked Portland in the adidas-South Carolina Classic on Sept. 10, he came off the bench to score two goals and lead Carolina to a 3-2 win over the Pilots. For his efforts, Akinsete was recognized as the Offensive Most Valuable Player of the Classic.
Akinsete started all 18 games for Carolina and totaled 16 points on seven goals and a pair of assists in 2003.
