Sept. 22, 2004
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina men’s soccer team continues its four-match road swing on Friday as it travels to Winston-Salem to take on the No. 23/13 Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Kickoff for the match, which will be played at Wake’s Spry Stadium, is set for 7 p.m. This marks the Gamecocks’ second match of the season against a top-25 opponent.
Fans can follow the game live via Gametracker on the Demon Deacons’ official web site at www.wakeforestsports.com.
Gamecock Update
The South Carolina men’s soccer team enters the weekend with a 4-1-1 record after dropping its first match of the season on Sept. 17 at Penn and then finishing in its firs tie (2-2) with Princeton on Sept. 19. Both matches were played in Philadelphia as part of the Penn Classic.
Sophomore forward Ayo Akinsete added his fourth goal of the season over the weekend and he continues to lead the Gamecocks’ scoring attack with eight points. Freshman forward Sebastian Lindholm is next with six points on a two goals and two assists, and junior defender Eric Szeszycki ranks third with four points on a goal and a pair of assists.
Junior Josh Alcala’s three assists are the most of any Gamecock player. Five players have scored at least one goal for USC and seven players have sratched the scoring column.
The Gamecocks have scored 11 goals while limiting their opposition to just seven and own a 85-78 shot advantage.
Sophomore goalkeeper Brad Guzan has amassed 32 saves and owns a 1.12 goals-against average. Guzan and the Carolina defense have recorded two shutouts.
Scouting Wake Forest
The Demon Deacons, now 3-2-1 on the season, come into Friday night’s match after suffering back-to-back setbacks to No. 20 Virginia (2-1 on Sept. 17) and to No. 15 UNC-Greensboro (2-1 on Sept. 21). Wake Forest is currently ranked in the top 25 in all four college soccer polls. According to Soccer America, the Demon Deacons are No. 13, and the team is listed at the No. 23 spot in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll. College Soccer News ranks Wake No. 11 while Soccer times ranks the Deacs 16th.
Wake Forest opened the season with a 2-0 win at Ohio State and then tied Penn State, 2-2, in its second game. The Demon Deacons also have wins over Virginia Commonwealth, 1-0, in double overtime, and Florida International, 3-2, also in overtime.
Scott Sealy leads Wake Forest with 13 points on six goals and an assist. Justin Moose (2 g, 1 a) and Stephen Keel (1 g, 3 a) are tied for second with five points. Goalkeeper Brian Edwards sports a 1.24 GAA and has recorded 24 saves. He also has two shutouts.
Jay Vidovich is in his 11th season as the head coach at WFU.
Wake-Carolina Series History
The match between South Carolina and Wake Forest annually features two of the South Region’s best teams. In fact, the all-time series is knotted at 10-10-4 and each team has scored 33 goals. In Winston-Salem, the Gamecocks have a record of 5-4-2. Wake Forest has won the last two matches in 2002 (1-0) and 2003 (4-0). Carolina’s last victory came in 2001, a 2-1 win in Columbia.
Quoting Coach Berson
On the match with Wake Forest: “Throughout the years, South Carolina-Wake Forest has been one of the bigger games in the South Region, and this year is no exception. We certainly have a challenge ahead of us traveling to their place.”
On his team in practice this week: “Our team has worked very hard this week to improve on a number of things we saw last weekend at Pennsylvania. Our objective going into this game is to eliminate mistakes and improve on our strengths. I feel like our team is making great strides, and we’ll be ready for a great opportunity on Friday.”
On Wake Forest: “Wake Forest is very well-coached and well-disciplined. They just don’t make many mistakes year in and year out. They lost some key players (from last season) and I think they’re still trying to cope with some of those losses. They are playing a tough schedule and have learned a lot from those matches heading into Friday.
“Justin Moose and Scott Sealy are two of the more exciting attacking players in our region. We’ll have to find a way to contain them. Wake Forest had a great recruiting year, and they have a number of returning players who we have great respect for as well.”
Akinsete Leading the Attack
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 four goals in six 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.
Welcome Freshman
Freshman forward Sebastian Lindholm, who hails from Taby,Sweden, is making his presence felt in his first season at South Carolina. Lindholm has started all six games, and scored two goals and logged two assists. He ranks second on the team in scoring.
Welcome Freshmen, Part II
Eight true freshmen have seen action for the Gamecocks this season and four have appeared in the starting lineup. Jose Ramos (6), Ray Paracat (5), Sebastian Lindholm (6) and Daniel Upchurch have started in every game they have played in. In addition, J.D. Moon, Stephen Sprague, Phil Beene and Matt King have all seen game action.
Youth Movement
Considering the perceived lack of experience on this year’s team, South Carolina’s 4-1-1start is even more impressive. The Gamecocks’ 26-player 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.
