Gamecocks Host Senior Night Sat. vs. No. 19/22 Kentucky

Oct. 24, 2014

South Carolina Hosts No. 19/22 Kentucky
Eugene E. Stone III Stadium – Columbia, S.C.
Sat., Oct. 25, 7 PM
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14 SC Men’s Soccer Notes-10/24

Feature on Braeden Troyer
Feature on Jeff Addai

South Carolina Team Notes

The 2014 Gamecocks have the fifth-highest paid attendance average in NCAA Division I at 2,751.
South Carolina has been a second-half team, winning more corner kicks (46-29) and shot chances (109-82) in the second 45 in its 14 matches.
The Gamecocks hold a 4-3 mark in overtime this year, the most OT wins in a season in history and the most extra-time matches played without a tie for the Gamecocks.
The seven overtime matches ranks second for most in a season. Last year’s squad played eight matches that lasted over 90 minutes.
South Carolina has played 14 overtime matches in its last 27 outings dating back to last year.
Three Gamecocks have played every minute this year: senior co-captain Braeden Troyer and sophomores Ive Burnett and Kurtis Turner.
South Carolina has taken 104 of their 200 shots, 52 percent, in five home matches: Belmont, Mercer, UNC Greensboro, Marshall and Georgia State.
Four times, SC has held foes to 2 or less shots on goal: Belmont, Marshall, Georgia State and UAB.
The Gamecocks stand with an all-time record of 458-207-68 (.671).
The 3-0 start was South Carolina’s best in a decade, when the 2004 squad won its first four matches.
The paid attendance of 5,415 for the season-opening match against Belmont ranks as the 4th-best in Stone Stadium history and 8th in the site’s history of men’s matches.
Ranked 17th in the Sept. 9 NSCAA/Continental Tire poll, South Carolina received its first ranking since the last regular season poll of 2011 (23rd).

Milestones Coming on Saturday’s Senior Night

While South Carolina honors seven seniors on Saturday night, two other big milestones come with the contest.
Gamecock head coach Mark Berson, in his 38th year as a NCAA Division I head coach, will coach his 750th collegiate match.
And the field he’s coached on in each of his 37 years at South Carolina will see its 400th Gamecock men’s soccer contest.

Gamecocks Come Back at Florida Atlantic for Big Win

The Gamecocks scored four unanswered goals in the final 30 minutes of regulation and five minutes of overtime to claim a 4-3 road win at Florida Atlantic on Oct. 17.
South Carolina posted its biggest come-from-behind victory with that effort, the first time in 37 years a Gamecock team overcame a three-goal deficit.
Doubling the Owls in shots in the second half, SC had two goals from redshirt freshman Mikkel Knudsen, including the neutralizer with 7:59 remaining.
Two Gamecocks made their season debut in the win, juniors Devin L’Amoreaux and Wesley Eads. L’Amoreaux had an assist on the game-tying goal by Knudsen.

Berson Ranks Sixth on NCAA Division I Coaching Wins List

TThe only head coach in South Carolina men’s soccer history, Mark Berson ranks as one of four coaches in NCAA Division I history with 450 wins at one institution.
Berson owns 469 career victories, which includes his 11 in 1977 at The Citadel.
He holds 6th on the NCAA Division I wins list and 16th on the all-divisions listing.
The FAU win broke a tie with former Kean head coach Tony Ochrimenko to give Berson 16th alone on the all-divisions list.
He’s coached 13 players who have captured 15 All-America nods at South Carolina.
He’s also guided at least one player on each of the past four US Men’s National Teams in the World Cup (Clint Mathis 2002, Josh Woolf 2002 and 2006, Brad Guzan 2010 and 2014).

We Scheduled Strong Foes

Of the 17 regular-season matches scheduled this season for the Gamecocks, 12 come against top-100 RPI teams in the final 2013 report from the NCAA.
Seven rank in the top 50, four from C-USA (Charlotte, UAB, Old Dominion & New Mexico).
Four foes made the NSCAA/Continental Tire Preseason Top 25, well, 26 when you count Old Dominion tying for the 25th spot with Navy.
Six of the Gamecocks’ foes appear in the current NSCAA top 25 or are receiving votes.
Two teams currently ranked remain on the schedule: No. 19/22 Kentucky and 18/23 New Mexico.
The Gamecocks are 1-2-0 against ranked teams in 2014, beating No. 25/18 Clemson.
SC is 1-4 against top-35 teams in the latest RPI report.
South Carolina’s remaining foes have RPIs in the top 50 (Kentucky 28, Old Dominion 46, New Mexico (30).
The remaining three foes combine to have a 24-10-5, giving SC the eighth-toughest remaining schedule in NCAA Division I.

South Carolina Celebrating 10 Years in Conference USA

The 2014 season is South Carolina’s 10th as a men’s soccer affiliate member of Conference USA.
In 2011, the Garnet and Black captured the league’s regular-season crown, sharing it with UAB.
Twice, the Gamecocks have won the league’s tournament (2005 and 2010).
South Carolina’s student-athletes have taken 40 all-league nods, with 14 coming on the first team.
In C-USA outings, South Carolina owns a 37-26-16 (.570) mark.
At Stone Stadium, that record is 19-14-6 (.564), with SC never failing to win a league home match in a year.

Awards Came in Bunches in Second Week

Sophomore goalkeeper Marco Velez won two honors over Sept. 8-9, the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week and the Disney Soccer/NSCAA Player of the Week.
It’s Velez’s second C-USA weekly honor, matching his award on Oct. 28, 2013, as a freshman.
He’s the first national player of the week for SC since Bradlee Baladez took the College Soccer News award on Oct. 4, 2010.
The last Gamecock before Velez to earn NSCAA’s weekly nod was Ayo Akinsete on Oct. 25, 2006.
Mahamoudou Kaba took a spot on CSN’s Team of the Week on Sept. 8 after garnering the C-USA Preseason Defensive Player of the Year award.

Recent Dominance of Archrival Clemson

Since 2007, the Gamecocks are 6-2 against their archrival Clemson, with both of the losses coming in double overtime on the road (2011 & 2013).
The last four matches at Stone Stadium have gone to the Gamecocks, three coming in shutouts.
It’s the best stretch since the Gamecocks went 10-4 from 1985-95 against the Tigers, with three of the wins in that stretch coming in NCAA Tournament play.

Troyer Named a Senior CLASS Award Candidate

Gamecock Braeden Troyer was one of 30 candidates for its men’s soccer Senior CLASS Award but was not one of 10 finalists.
Troyer leads all SC returners with 10 career goals, tied for seventh in Gamecock history during the Conference USA era (since 2005).
Twice he’s been named to the C-USA All-Academic Team, and he has three All-C-USA nods, (`12 second team, `11 & `13 third team).
He also made the 2011 Conference USA All-Freshman Team and has been honored once on the College Soccer News Team of the Week (Sept. 29, 2013).
On two occasions, CoSIDA has voted him on the Capital One Academic All-District 4 team.
In the classroom, he’s been a member of the Honors College at South Carolina and earned three C-USA Academic Medals, given to student-athletes with a 3.75 GPA.
He’s a co-captain in 2014 (along with Mahamoudou “Mo” Kaba).

Roster Notes

South Carolina brought back 18 letter-winners to go with nine newcomers for 2014.
The Gamecocks return 80 percent of their goals and 76 percent of their assists from last year.
Included in that returning group is the top-two goal scorers (Jeffrey Torda and Mahamoudou Kaba) and the top-two assist distributors (Kurtis Turner and Ryan Arambula).
Only one goalkeeper of three who played in 2013 is not back from last year (Chris Duzan, 30:19).
Four Conference USA award winners return, including defenders Kaba and Braeden Troyer as well as 2013 All-Freshman Team members Turner (midfielder) and Marco Velez (goalkeeper).
Both Kaba and Troyer made the C-USA Preseason team, with Kaba garnering the Defensive Player of the Year title.

The Gamecocks Shine in the Classroom as Well

South Carolina’s 18 returners have a total of 30 SEC Academic Honor Roll certificates and 31 Conference USA Academic Honor Roll notations between them.
Of those, 10 are Conference USA Academic Medal mentions, which is awarded to student-athletes with a 3.75 cumulative GPA or higher.
Troyer has three of those Academic Medals, while both Ryan Arambula and Jeffrey Torda have two.
Four of the seniors, Robert Beebe, Mahamoudou “Mo” Kaba, Asa Kryst and Braeden Troyer have three certificates each.

Gamecocks vs. Ranked Foes

South Carolina is 32-55-9 (.380) against foes ranked in the NSCAA top 25 (since 1996).
Broken down by site, the Gamecocks are 17-26-4 (.404) at home, 11-18-5 (.397) on the road and 4-11 (.267) in neutral-site outings.
In 2013, the Gamecocks went 2-2 against teams ranked in the NSCAA poll.
South Carolina had taken its last three against ranked teams before the Oct. 4 loss to No. 10 Charlotte (No. 25 New Mexico on 10/26/13, No. 10 UAB on 11/3/13, No. 25 Clemson on 9/2/14).

Scouting Kentucky

Making their debut in the NSCAA poll this week at No. 19, the Wildcats are 8-3-3 on the season.
Kentucky is the only C-USA team who has not taken a loss in league play, going 3-0-2 on the year.
Things start with UK’s defense, with Callum Irving posting a 0.41 goals against average during his junior year, the second-best GAA in NCAA Division I.
He’s totaled nine shutouts in 14 matches, making 43 saves in 1,302 minutes of play.
Most offensive categories are even between UK and its foes.
Of note, Kentucky has not given up a penalty kick while only taking one all season.
Forty-six percent of the Wildcats’ shots have come on goal.
Justin Laird, the current NSCAA/Disney Soccer National Player of the Week, leads Kentucky with five goals and has added three assists.
Napo Matsoso and Charlie Reymann have four assists each, tops on the team.
Only four of the Wildcats’ 17 goals have been unassisted.

Series History vs. the Wildcats

The Gamecocks hold a 5-4-3 advantage in the all-time series, including a 3-1-1 record at home.
In C-USA regular-season play, Kentucky has a 4-3-2 mark against South Carolina.

Delays and Waiting Part of Gamecock Season

The first three South Carolina games all came with some sort of delayed start.
For the season opener against Belmont, the previous games at Stone Stadium pushed the start back to 9:37, over an hour later than the 8:30 PM scheduled start.
Lightning in the Columbia area pushed back the start against No. 25/18 Clemson by 1:40.
Heavy rains brought standing water to the Stone Stadium pitch for a time, but the field crew and event managers got it cleared and ready for a 7:15 PM kickoff, 15 minutes after the set time.

Gamecocks Have a Rich History in NCAA Tournament

On 20 occasions, the Gamecocks made an NCAA Tournament, the most in Conference USA.
Eleven times, the Gamecocks have played the NCAA Tournament Round of 16.
South Carolina is 16-19-1 in the tourney, making two College Cups in 1988 and 1993.