South Carolina Faces Crucial Road Test At Old Dominion
Oct. 21, 2016
COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina (8-3-1 overall, 3-0-1 C-USA) travels northeast this weekend to face Old Dominion (3-5-2 overall, 0-2-1 C-USA) in a critical Conference USA matchup. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. on Saturday night as the Gamecocks will look to remain alone at the top of the C-USA standings.
“It’s a big match for us,” said Head Coach Mark Berson. “It’s at Old Dominion, which is always a challenge. Any conference game on the road is going to be a challenging game. Old Dominion is a very good team. They were the conference champions two years ago. They beat us in the championship final. We have a lot of respect for them. We know what they’re capable of as a team. They’re a very well coached and well disciplined team. It’s on the road, so we’ve got a lot of things that we’re going to have to work hard to overcome Saturday night.”
ODU leads the all-time series with Carolina 4-3-0. Over the last the four meetings, the teams have split matches 2-2. Last season, the Gamecocks defeated the Monarchs 3-1 on Halloween night at Stone Stadium.
South Carolina remains the lone unbeaten team in C-USA play at 3-0-1 with a one point edge in the standings over No. 9 Charlotte, 10-9.
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 Gamecocks return 17 letter winners and eight starters from last season’s squad that advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament
– South Carolina, which 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 recently had an eight-match unbeaten streak snapped in a 1-0 loss to No. 2 Wake Forest
– The streak dated back to a 2-1 overtime win vs. Georgia Southern on Sept. 13.
– During the streak, Carolina outscored opponents 15-4 and pitched four shutouts
– Junior goalkeeper William Pyle was named the C-USA Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 17 after posting back-to-back shutouts; Pyle had eight saves including five vs. UAB and a PK save in the 108th minute at FIU
– Pyle is 8-2-1 on the season with 38 saves and four shutouts; his .854 save percentage ranks 12th in the nation and his 0.582 goals against average ranks 17th in the country
– Sophomore forward Bjorn Gudjonsson was named the C-USA Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 3 after he scored three goals in two games. He recorded his first career multi-goal game vs. High Point on Sept. 28 with two scores. Gudjonsson also scored once in a 2-1 in vs. Marshall.
– 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 named C-USA Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 26 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 (6G, 4A) leads the team in points with 16; senior Kevin Walker ranks second with eight (4G)
– Deakin leads the team in shots with 40; Mayr leads the team in shots on goal with 17
– South Carolina’s balanced offesnive attack features four players with double-digit SOG: Mayr (17), Deakin (16), Walker (12) and Turner (11)
– Mayr scored his first career goal as a Gamecock vs. Mercer on Aug. 30
– Mayr tallied an individual single-game season-high five SOG vs. Georgia Southern
– Deakin leads the team with four game-winning goals, which ranks eighth in the nation currently
RECORD CROWD WATCHES SOUTH CAROLINA SEASON OPENER VS. CLEMSON
A new Stone Stadium attendance record was set 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 Old Dominion
The Monarchs had no midweek game and last were on the pitch Saturday, October 15, when they lost 2-0 at Kentucky. ODU is 1-3 vs. ranked opponents this season with a 1-0 win over No. 18 Radford at home. Sebastian Hauret leads the Monarchs with six points on the season (1G, 4A). His 11 shots on goal are second on the team. Three players are tied for the team lead in goals with two each: Nik, Klosterhalfen, Jesse Miralrio and Doni Pollock. Miralrio leads the team in shots (32) and SOG (12). Klosterhalfen is second on the team in points with five (2G, 1A). Goalkeeper Alex Tiesenhausen has started all 10 matches for the Monarchs and boasts a 3-5-2 record in goal with 48 saves and two shutouts. He has a .750 save percentage. ODU picked up its first points in C-USA play with a 0-0 draw on the road at UAB on Sept. 24.
