July 8, 2008
Printable 2008 Gamecock Men’s Soccer Schedule
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Contests against four teams that participated in the 2007 NCAA Tournament, including three that were ranked in the final NSCAA (National Soccer Coaches Association of America) top 25 poll, highlight the upcoming 2008 season of South Carolina men’s soccer. The Gamecocks will play nine regular season home games at Stone Stadium, including the highly anticipated season opener against archrival Clemson on Aug. 29.
From the final NSCAA top 25 poll, South Carolina will face top-ranked and defending national champion Wake Forest at its home tournament, the adidas Classic in mid-September. Also from the final poll, Carolina will face No. 18 SMU and No. 20 Tulsa, both Conference USA opponents.
Carolina kicks off the season with two exhibition matches at Stone Stadium, hosting Winthrop on Aug. 18 and ACC foe NC State on Aug. 23. South Carolina looks for its second-straight season-opening victory over Clemson in 2008. South Carolina won the 2007 contest in fashion, as then-freshman Blake Brettschneider netted his first career game-winning tally in the 109th minute of double overtime to capture the 1-0 win. Following its regular-season opener against the Tigers at Stone Stadium on Aug. 29, South Carolina will host Presbyterian College on Sept. 2 before the Garnet and Black travel to the Wake Forest adidas Classic, Sept. 5-7, joining the host Demon Deacons, the University of North Carolina and UCLA in the grand slam tournament field. Carolina will face UNC (Sept. 5) and defending national champion Wake Forest (Sept. 7) at the event.
South Carolina will host the annual adidas Gamecock Classic Sept. 12-14. Carolina welcomes Lehigh University, Jacksonville University and Presbyterian College to Stone Stadium for the weekend tournament. The Gamecocks will face Lehigh in the premier game on Sept. 12, followed by a match with Jacksonville on Sept. 14.
The Gamecocks travel to intrastate rival College of Charleston on Sept. 19. The Cougars finished second last season in the Southern Conference standings with their only league loss against South Carolina’s next opponent, fellow in-state competitor, Furman. The Paladins and Gamecocks will play in Furman’s Stone Stadium on Sept. 24. Carolina will host Davidson in its final non-conference game of the regular season in Columbia on Sept. 27.
The Conference USA season begins with a home match against Florida International (Oct. 4) followed by a two-match road trip where the Gamecocks will face SMU (Oct. 8) and Kentucky (Oct. 12). Carolina returns home to host Memphis on Oct. 17, before traveling to Marshall on Oct. 25. South Carolina will play two of its final three regular-season contests at home, beginning with a match against UAB on Oct. 29. The Gamecocks will travel to the Midwest for a Nov. 1 matchup with Tulsa, before returning home for their regular-season finale against Central Florida on Nov. 7.
SMU will host the 2008 Conference USA Championship, Nov. 12-16, in Dallas, Texas. All dates and times are subject to change. Please visit www.GamecocksOnline.com for updated men’s soccer news, including up-to-date game dates and times, as well as promotional events.
