July 23, 2013
2013 Printable Schedule 
| 2013 Web Schedule
COLUMBIA, S.C. – University of South Carolina head men’s soccer coach Mark Berson announced on Tuesday the schedule for the upcoming 2013 campaign, which marks the 36th season of varsity soccer at South Carolina. The Gamecocks will host 11 home dates this fall, including two exhibitions and the annual Gamecock Classic in mid-September. The schedule features regular season contests against four teams ranked in the final 2012 NSCAA Top 25 Poll, and 10 teams that competed in the 2012 NCAA Tournament, including three teams that advanced to the Round of 16.
“We traditionally play a very demanding schedule, and this year is no exception,” Berson commented. “Half of the teams on our schedule appeared in the NCAA tournament last year, which would qualify this as one of the toughest schedules in the country. We open at home on Friday night, Aug. 30, against East Tennessee State. Hopefully Gamecock fans will continue their tailgate from the Thursday night football opener right through Friday and come out to The Graveyard for some great college soccer.”
From the final NSCAA poll, South Carolina travels to No. 11 Coastal Carolina (Sept. 10) and No. 23 Charlotte (Sept. 27), before hosting No. 14 Tulsa (Oct. 6) and C-USA newcomer No. 10 New Mexico (Oct. 26) later in the fall. Coastal has won the last two Big South regular season titles, going undefeated in league play during both the 2011 and 2012 campaigns. The Chanticleers earned a 3-2 victory over the Gamecocks in regular-season action in 2012 in Columbia. Tulsa won last season’s C-USA Tournament for an automatic bid to the NCAA event, and league newcomers New Mexico, the 2012 regular season Mountain Pacific Sports Federation champs, and Charlotte, the 2012 A-10 regular-season champs, also highlight the campaign.
Exhibition play begins with an Aug. 18 contest vs. Mercer, followed by an Aug. 24 exhibition versus 2012 NCAA Tournament participant Elon, with both of those games at Stone Stadium. The Gamecocks host ETSU in the season opener on Aug. 30, before traveling to archrival Clemson (Sept. 2) in early September, prior to a home contest versus High Point (Sept. 6). South Carolina will travel for three-consecutive road contests the following week, beginning with a stop at Coastal Carolina (Sept. 10), before travels to the Northeast to face St. John’s (Sept. 13) and Rutgers (Sept. 15).
The annual Gamecock Classic will be held Sept. 20-22, at Stone Stadium. Kentucky, Dartmouth and South Florida round out the field, with the Wildcats and Bulls both NCAA Tournament teams a year ago. Dartmouth and UK will play in the early match on the 20th, before the Gamecocks face South Florida. The final day will see Kentucky and USF battle in the first contest of the day, while the Gamecocks will host Dartmouth in the finale.
Conference USA play begins on Sept. 27 when the Gamecocks travel to Charlotte. Carolina and the 49ers battled into double-overtime last season at Transamerica Field, with then-No. 5 Charlotte earning a 3-2 decision. Presbyterian (Oct. 1) visits Stone Stadium before Carolina hosts Tulsa on Oct. 6. The Gamecocks will play two of the next three games on the road, a trip to Kentucky (Oct. 13), before FAU (Oct. 16) visits the Graveyard. South Carolina travels to Marshall on Oct. 19.
New Mexico (Oct. 26) visits Columbia in late October before back-to-back road trips, at FIU (Oct. 30) and at UAB (Nov. 3). The Gamecocks will host Old Dominion (Nov. 9) on Senior Night in early November.
The Conference USA Tournament will be held in Charlotte, Nov. 13-17, with NCAA Tournament play to begin the following week.
Season tickets for men’s soccer, which includes admission to all home games, are currently on sale in the Gamecock Ticket Office. Fans can purchase tickets online at GamecocksOnline.com, or by calling 1-800-4SC-FANS. Cost for season tickets for men’s soccer is $25 for adults and $10 for youth (17 and under).
