Oct. 2, 2015

Printable Box Score | Box Score

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – No. 19 South Carolina (6-2-1, 3-0 C-USA) used an 84th-minute goal from freshman Bjorn Gudjonsson to claim a 2-1 win at Marshall (4-6, 0-3 C-USA) on a slick pitch Friday night at Hoops Family Field.

With the victory, Gamecock head coach Mark Berson moved into a tie for fifth on the NCAA Division I wins list, collecting his 478th career win, joining him with Tom Martin on that prestigious list.

South Carolina jumped out to a 1-0 lead on senior Kevin Walker’s 12th-minute goal. He headed home junior Kurtis Turner’s serve into the six-yard box to put the Gamecocks ahead, a lead that would hold the rest of the first half.

Marshall, after putting pressure on early in the second half, finally got the evener in the 65th minute from Rimario Gordon. He poked in the rebound from Ryan Forde’s shot to tie things at 1-1.

The Gamecocks went back in front with six minutes to play when Gudjonsson put home the rebound from junior Danny Deakin. The Gamecock defense held Marshall from there, only letting the Herd record one shot in the final minutes of the match.

Game Changer:
The Gamecocks worked freshmen Torgeir Nyboe and Gudjonsson back into the lineup late in the second half, and they paid dividends, Gudjonsson especially with the game-winner.

Key Stat:
In 38 seasons as an NCAA Division I coach, Berson has recorded 478 wins. Only four Division I coaches have more than the only men’s soccer head coach in history at South Carolina.

Notables:
• Seven different Gamecocks tallied 90-minute nights: goalkeeper William Pyle, defenders Ive Burnett, Peyton Ericson and Koty Millard and midfielders Ryan Arambula, Kurtis Turner and Danny Deakin.
• Forwards Walker, Jeffrey Torda and Devin L’Amoreaux all had two shots in the contest.
• South Carolina was called offsides six times on the night.
• Daniel Jodah and Cameron Schneider had three shots each for Marshall, with all three of Jodah’s coming on goal.

Tweet of the Game:

84′ GOALLLLLLL!!!!!! Bjorn Gudjonsson puts the #Gamecocks back on top 2-1!

— Gamecock M. Soccer (@GamecockMSoccer) October 3, 2015

Quotable:
Head coach Mark Berson
On the road in Conference USA, the games are always tough. We have a lot of respect for Marshall. Bob Gray is a veteran coach, and we knew he’d have his guys ready, and they certainly were. For us, we had a good first half and a very poor second half. We have to get that straightened out. That’s a credit to Marshall, but we need to be a little bit stronger in the second half. It’s good to come away with a win. It was good to come back after we got tied and put the game away and get the three points.

On moving up on the NCAA Division I wins list
It’s a real privilege to be named with those coaches on that list. I’m thankful to our players and coaches tonight and all the players and coaches that came before.

Up Next:
The Gamecocks step out of C-USA play to take on No. 6 Wake Forest on Tuesday in Winston-Salem, N.C. ESPN3 has the game on live streaming video.