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Gamecocks Welcome No. 12 Kentucky On Senior Night
Men's Soccer  . 

Gamecocks Welcome No. 12 Kentucky On Senior Night

Nov. 3, 2016

Game Information

Date: Friday, November 4, 2016

Game Time: 7 p.m.

Location: Columbia, S.C.

Stadium: Stone Stadium

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina wraps up the regular season Friday night as it welcomes No. 12 Kentucky (11-3-2 overall, 5-2-0 C-USA) to Stone Stadium at 7 p.m. ET. It’s Senior Night for the Gamecocks and the team will be honoring its senior class of Ive Burnett, Danny Deakin, Matt McManis, Koty Millard, Kurtis Turner, Marco Velez and Kevin Walker prior to the match.

“It’s such a great night for all of our senior players and all the guys on our team,” said Head Coach Mark Berson. “It’s a wonderful time to recognize the contributions of those players and the great support they’ve given us for four years. As it pertains to the game, it’s a huge game for us. It’s big in terms of determining where our seeding will be in the Conference USA Tournament next week. It’s a big game on a national level because of the opportunity to play against a top team and get a top win. Kentucky’s very good. They’ve crafted a great season. They’re a very well organized team that doesn’t give a lot up defensively. It should be a great game.”

The Gamecocks have already locked up a spot in the C-USA Tournament and will be playing to improve their seed in Huntington, W. Va. when they take to the pitch Friday night.

Carolina is currently tied for third in the C-USA standings with FIU at 13 points. Kentucky sits alone in second with 15 points.

Last season, the Wildcats downed the Gamecocks 1-0 in Lexington, Ky. The team’s have split matches in the last five meetings (2-2-1) with two of the games being decided in overtime.

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 re-entered the NSCAA Coaches Top-25 Poll on Oct. 25 slotted at No. 25; the Gamecocks were back in the poll for the first time since week one of the season
– South Carolina had an eight-match unbeaten streak snapped in a 1-0 loss to No. 2 Wake Forest on Oct. 18
– 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 9-4-1 on the season with 52 saves and four shutouts; his .800 save percentage ranks fourth in C-USA and his 0.91 goals against average ranks fifth in the conference
– 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 (7G, 5A) leads the team in points with 19; Gudjonsson ranks second with 13 (6G, 1A)
– Freshman Luca Mayr leads the team in shots (45) and shots on goal (18)
– South Carolina’s balanced offensive attack features four players with double-digit SOG: Mayr (18), Deakin (17), 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 five game-winning goals, which is tied for 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 Kentucky

The Wildcats, who come into Friday’s contest riding a four-match winning streak, are the defending regular season league champs. The team earned its 11th win of the season last week after downing Marshall 3-0 on Senior Night, marking the third straight year Kentucky hit the 11 win plateau. UK wrapped up the season undefeated at home (8-0-2) for the first time in program history with the win. The Wildcats are 3-3 on the road this season. Both of the team’s losses in C-USA play came on the road. UK has shutout opponents in nine of its 16 matches, good for a 56 percent shutout percentage, which is the eighth-best in the nation. The Wildcat attack is led by Napo Matsoso, who has logged 20 points (8G, 4A) on the season. His 20 points rank second in C-USA, as well as his eight goals. Charlie Reymann leads the conference in assists this season with seven. The Cats have seven players in their lineup with at least two goals. Goalkeeper Stuart Ford, who is 11-3-2 on the season, ranks second in C-USA with nine shutouts. He’s allowed just nine goals all season. UK’s 0.53 team GAA is ranked eighth in the country.