Sept. 17, 2015

South Carolina at UAB
West Campus Field – Birmingham, Ala.
Fri., Sept. 18, 8 PM EDT

Video on CBS All-Access ($) | | @GamecockMSoccer

15 SC Men’s Soccer Notes 9/17

Coach Berson Mic’d Up
Conference USA Soccer: An Elite History
Berson’s Influence Felt On and Off the Field – Courtesy of Spurs and Feathers

Offense Highlights from the First Quarter of the Season

• South Carolina’s midfielders posted some explosive offense in the early going of 2015.
• Senior Jeffrey Torda has both Gamecock game-winners, the second getting national recognition.
• His scissor kick goal made the No. 2 spot on ESPN SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays for Aug. 31.
• Junior Danny Deakin followed two matches later with a hat trick, scoring all three goals against UNC Greensboro.
• That Sept. 8 Gamecock hat trick came almost exactly 14 years after the previous one, as Jordan Quinn recorded his on Sept. 9, 2001, against TCU.
• Junior Koty Millard has a goal and an assist as well, while seniors Ryan Arambula and Asa Kryst have two and one assist, respectively.
• As a group, they have tallied 89 percent of the goals and 72 percent of the assists.

Roster Notes

• South Carolina brings back 13 letter-winners and 16 members from the squad that made the 2014 Conference USA Tournament Championship Match.
• Ten newcomers join the group: three transfers and seven freshmen.
• The Gamecocks return 47 percent of their goals and 57 percent of their assists from last year.
• Third-team All-Conference USA midfielder Kurtis Turner is the top returning scorer.
• Turner has led the Gamecocks in assists in each of his first two years.
• Junior goalkeeper Marco Velez is also back after playing 87 percent of the minutes in goal and recording three solo shutouts last season.

The Gamecocks Shine in the Classroom as Well

• South Carolina’s 16 returners have a total of 26 SEC Academic Honor Roll certificates and 25 Conference USA Academic Honor Roll notations between them.
• Last season, 20 of the roster members picked up spots on each honor roll.
• Ryan Arambula (three) and Jeffrey Torda (two) both own multiple C-USA Academic Medals, which go to honorees holding a 3.75 cumulative GPA or higher.
• Both seniors also have CoSIDA Academic All-District nods, Arambula in 2013 and Torda in 2014.
• Nine times, SC has garnered the NSCAA Team Academic Award, including one in each of the past six years.
• Twice in the past five years, the Gamecocks have captured the top GPA in NCAA Division I according to the NSCAA.

We Schedule Top Competition

• Of the 17 regular-season matches scheduled for the Gamecocks, 12 come against top-100 RPI teams in the final 2014 report from the NCAA.
• Ten of those ranked in the top 50, five from C-USA (Charlotte, Kentucky UAB, Old Dominion & New Mexico).
• Four foes made the NSCAA/Continental Tire Preseason Top 25, with five more among those receiving votes.
• Eight of the Gamecocks’ foes made last year’s NCAA Tournament.

Marco Velez Writing Name in South Carolina Record Book

• Junior goalkeeper Marco Velez claimed one top-10 spot on the career charts and has another in sight.
• With 20 minutes in goal, he’ll pass Mike Gustavson (2005-06) for ninth in goalkeeper minutes played.
• At UNC Wilmington, he surpassed Brad Guzan (2003-04) on that chart, becoming the 11th Gamecock netminder to play 3,500 minutes.
• He’s now 23 saves from tying Gustavson for 10th on the career listing.

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.

Homegrown Gamecocks Highlight 2015 Roster

• Eight Gamecock players hail from inside the Palmetto State, highlighting Mark Berson’s commitment to recruiting and developing local talent.
• Three of those started in the first five matches: seniors Ryan Arambula and Wesley Eads as well as junior Koty Millard.
• For the past decade, South Carolina’s roster has increased its number of natives on the team, with six or more on each squad since 2006, a mark only hit twice in the previous 15 years.

Recap of Georgia Southern Victory

• South Carolina downed Georgia Southern 4-2 in its second match of the season on Monday.
• The highlight came on senior Jeffrey Torda’s scissor kick goal in the 62nd minute.
• That goal, which proved to be his second game-winner of the year, made the No. 2 spot on ESPN SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays of the day.
• Three other Gamecocks scored in the match, including the first goals as Gamecocks for senior Kevin Walker and junior Danny Deakin as well as the first of the season for junior Koty Millard.
• Three Gamecocks made assists, including senior Ryan Arambula on Torda’s game-winner with his free kick.

Notes from Mercer Win

• South Carolina posted a 2-1 win over 2014 Southern Conference regular-season champion Mercer in the season opener at Stone Stadium.
• Senior Jeffrey Torda tallied his third career game-winning goal with a 55th-minute strike, assisted by junior Danny Deakin.
• The Gamecocks owned the lead since the 18th minute when freshman Ben Davidson curved his free kick around the wall and into the upper 90 of the goal.
• Seven of South Carolina’s starters played all 90 minutes.

Berson Ranks Sixth on NCAA Division I Coaching Wins List

• The 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.
• The active Division I wins leader, Berson owns 474 career victories in 38 years, 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.
• Four wins ties Berson for fifth on the Division I list with Tom Martin, who retired after last season at James Madison with 478 career coaching wins in a career that spanned multiple divisions.
• Berson coached his 750th collegiate match vs. Kentucky on Oct. 25.
• He’s coached 11 players who have captured 13 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).

Attendance Outstanding at Stone Stadium

• In the 2015 season opener, 4,325 fans packed the stands for the eighth-largest crowd to watch a men’s match at Stone Stadium in history.
• The first two exhibitions of 2015 also saw over 4,000 students scan in for each, filling the stands.
• The 2014 Gamecocks had the fifth-highest paid attendance average in NCAA Division I at 2,602.
• That 2,602 attendance average is the largest for a season in Stone Stadium history.

Recent Dominance of Archrival Clemson

• Since 2007, the Gamecocks are 6-3 against their archrival Clemson, with all three losses coming on the road (2011, 2013, 2015).
• 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.

11th Year for South Carolina in Conference USA

• The 2015 season is South Carolina’s 11th 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 more, the Gamecocks won the league’s tournament, in 2005 and 2010.
• South Carolina’s student-athletes have taken 48 all-league nods, with 14 coming on the first team.
• In C-USA outings, South Carolina owns a 38-28-16 (.561) mark.
• On the road, that mark is 19-13-10 (.571). At Stone Stadium, that record is 19-15-6 (.550).
• The 2014 Gamecocks fell one game shy of their fifth undefeated road slate in their C-USA history.

The Last Meeting

South Carolina	1
UAB	0

November 14, 2014
Norfolk, Va.

Gamecocks Down No. 21 UAB 1-0 to Advance to C-USA Finals The Conference USA Golden Boot winner Mikkel Knudsen came through for South Carolina (10-9), as the Gamecocks downed No. 21 UAB (11-7-1) 1-0 in the semifinals of the Conference USA Tournament at the ODU Soccer Complex on Wednesday afternoon.

Recap | Box Score |

Scouting UAB

• The Blazers stand at 3-3 on the season, with two losses coming against ranked foes.
• An NCAA Tournament team a year ago, UAB returns seven of their starters, including C-USA Co-Offensive Player of the Year Freddie Ruiz.
• The senior has a goal and two assists in the early going of 2015.
• Rami Dajani has three of the Blazers’ 10 goals thus far, with Karl Chester and Ian Svantesson both adding two.
• Both DeAndre Robinson and Berry Sonnenschein have three assists to their credit.
• Joe Kuzminsky has given up 12 goals in six matches, tallying a 2.06 goals against average.
• He’s seen 100 shots already, stopping 30 of the 42 on goal.

Series History vs. the Blazers

• South Carolina is 10-5-1 all-time against UAB, including a 4-1 mark in games in Birmingham.
• Since joining Conference USA, the Gamecocks are 8-4-1 in the series.