Oct. 9, 2015

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COLUMBIA, S.C. – Two goals from junior Danny Deakin led the 15th-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks (7-3-1, 4-0 C-USA) to a 2-1 victory over Florida Atlantic (0-9-1, 0-4 C-USA) in Conference USA play on Friday night at Stone Stadium.

Scoring in the second minute, Deakin put in the cross from senior Jeffrey Torda to put South Carolina on top 1-0. After junior Koty Millard drew a foul in the penalty area, Deakin stepped to the spot in the 43rd minute and put it past the Owls keeper to make it a 2-0 South Carolina advantage.

Florida Atlantic finally punched one through in the 79th minute after getting chances in the second half. Ramon Whittaker scored from 10 yards away after getting the ball from Oliver Powers and Thomas Gallits on a break.

South Carolina had many quality looks in the first half and held a 13-1 advantage on shots in the first 45.

Game Changer:
Scoring 98 seconds into the match helped the Gamecocks to take control of the match early.

Key Stat:
South Carolina’s 13-1 shots lead in the first half shows how much control the Gamecocks had in the first period.

Notables:
• Deakin led all players with five shots, while Torda had four.
• Freshman Torgeir Nyboe played the complete game at center back for the first time since the double-overtime outing against UNC Greesnboro.
• Also playing all 90 minutes were backs Millard and Ive Burnett as well as midfielder Deakin and goalkeeper William Pyle.
• Four of the Owls’ 10 shot came from Whittaker.
• Neither team was called for an offsides in the match.

Tweet of the Game:

Best half of soccer I’ve seen in some time from @GamecockMSoccer, well-deserved 2:0 lead!

— Andrew Richardson (@ARichardsonSC) October 9, 2015

Quotable:
Head coach Mark Berson
To get a win in conference is always big. We want to keep our win streak here at home, which is really important for our fans. It was a good night for people in Columbia to come out to get some fresh air and get a little diversion from some of the things we’ve been dealing with, and we were happy for that. In the first half, we played really, really well. We moved the ball smartly. We created a lot of good chances, and I was really, really pleased with our efficiency both in attack and defending. Second half, we weren’t as sharp. That’s something that we continually work on, and we’ll have to work on it some more.

Up Next:
The Gamecocks hit the road for a three-game stretch, starting with Tuesday’s non-conference tilt at NC State. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Dail Soccer Field.