Gamecocks Play Host To Marshall Sunday Night
Sept. 30, 2016
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina (6-3-0 overall, 1-0 C-USA) plays host to Marshall (5-5 overall, 1-1 C-USA) Sunday night in the team’s first conference match at home this season. The Gamecocks opened C-USA play on Sept. 17 on the road at Florida Atlantic with a 1-0 win.
“Marshall is a team that last year knocked us out of the conference tournament in the semifinals, so clearly that thought is fresh in our mind,” said Head Coach Mark Berson. “It’s a team that’s very important in terms of the conference because the top-seven teams in the league go on to the conference tournament. Every match in the league is critical for points. We know Marshall will bring a very good team, a very physical team, a very big team, a very strong team into Stone Stadium on Sunday night.”
Sunday night’s match is Heroes Night Out as the Gamecocks will honor military members past and present with a pregame ceremony and halftime video. All military members and their families receive FREE admission. Also, fans will receive FREE admission if they bring their ticket stubs from the football game vs. Texas A&M.
Carolina and Marshall split matches last season. The Gamecocks beat the Thundering Herd 2-1 on the road in the regular season, and fell 1-0 to them in the semifinals of the C-USA Tournament.
GAMECOCK QUICK HITS
– Mark Berson is the winningest active NCAA Division I coach, 5th on the all-time NCAA D1 list
– Berson is tied for the most NCAA Tournament appearances among active DI coaches with 21
– The 2015 Gamecocks advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament
– The Gamecocks return 17 letterwinners from last season’s squad
– South Carolina returns eight starters from last season’s squad
– South Carolina, who has been a member of Conference USA since 2005, has two C-USA Tournament titles and two regular-season crowns in 11 years
-Seniors Danny Deakin and Koty Millard were both named to the 2016 Preseason All-C-USA Team
– Deakin was named to the CollegeSoccerNews 2016 Preseason All-America Second Team
– South Carolina, who is currently on a five-match win streak, has scored a season-high three goals in each of their last three wins; the nine goals have been scored by eight different players
– Sophomore forward Bjorn Gudjonsson recorded his first career multi-goal game vs. High Point on Sept. 28; Sophomore midfielder Ben Davidson recorded his first career multi-assist match
– Carolina’s win over Furman on Sept. 20 was its first of the season over a ranked opponent, as the Paladins were slotted No. 18 by Soccer America
– Senior Kurtis Turner was recently named Conference-USA Offensive Player of the Week after scoring the game-winning goal at Furman and recording his second assist of the season vs. Georgia State
– The Gamecocks posted a season-high 27 shots and 11 shots on goal in their win vs. Georgia Southern
– Deakin led the team with seven shots vs. the Eagles (2 SOG) and freshman Luca Mayr was second on the team with six shots, including five shots on goal, an individual season-high for Carolina
-Deakin (4G, 4A) leads the team in points with 12; senior Kevin Walker ranks second with eight (4G)
– Goalkeeper William Pyle is 6-1 and has 25 saves in seven games with two shutouts, good for an 83.3 save percentage and a 0.71 GAA
– South Carolina picked up its first win of the season on Sept. 4 after beating UCF, 2-1
– Mayr scored his first career goal as a Gamecock vs. Mercer on Aug. 30
– Deakin leads the team in shots with 32
– Mayr leads the team with 16 shots on goal
RECORD CROWD WATCHES SOUTH CAROLINA SEASON OPENER VS. CLEMSON
A new Stone Stadium attendance record was set last Friday in the 2016 season opener vs. Clemson, as 6,892 fans attended the matchup. The mark broke the previous record of 6,157, also set vs. Clemson on Sept. 3, 2010.
SCOUTING Marshall
The Thundering Herd fell 2-1 on the road at Evansville in their last outing on Sept. 28. Marshall has scored nine goals on the season and has two players tied for the team lead with two scores in Daniel Jodah and Trevor Starcher. Starcher leads the team in points with six (2G, 2A). Jodah (2G, 1A) and Paul Whitener (1G, 3A) are tied for second on the team in points at five. Jodah ranks first in shots with 14 and Whitener is second with 12. Whitener leads the team in shots on goal with nine and Jodah is second with eight. Whitener sports a solid .750 SOG percentage. Goalkeeper Trevor Clemens has a 4-2 record with 22 saves and three shutouts. His 22 saves are good for an 81.5 save percentage. The Thundering Herd sport a 1-4 record on the road so far in 2016. The team’s split matches last season with Carolina winning 2-1 in the regular season at home and Marshall winning 1-0 in the semifinals of the conference tournament..
