Gamecocks drop 2-1 decision at Furman
Two late goals by the Paladins the difference in the match
GREENVILLE, S.C. — South Carolina (1-4-0, 0-1-0 C-USA) dropped a tough 2-1 decision on the road at Furman (3-3-0, 0-0-0 SoCon) Tuesday night. The Gamecocks led 1-0 in the second half, but the Paladins scored two unanswered goals on set pieces late to earn the comeback victory.
“Difficult loss tonight for our guys,” said head coach Mark Berson. “We fought hard on the road and got the lead, but we weren’t able to hold it. Two set pieces were the difference on the night. It’s tough to say with the record that we have right now, but I can tell you we have shown a lot of improvement as the season has progressed. If we keep doing that, things will fall our way in the future.
Carolina, who dominated the run of play for long stretches in both halves tonight, had a flurry of chances late after falling behind in the 82nd minute. The Gamecocks had a pair of free kicks in their attacking half and three corner kicks the final 8 minutes of regulation, but couldn’t capitalize on the chances.
After a scoreless first 45 minutes in which Carolina had a number of high-quality opportunities, the Gamecocks finally broke through in the 68th minute when junior Luca Mayr shook loose from the defense just outside the box. The Steyr, Austria, native fired a shot from close range tht was saved by Paladin keeper Ben Hale. Sophomore Justin Sukow cleaned up the miss and scored off the rebound.
It marked Sukow’s team-leading second goal of the season. Mayr has now assisted on all three of Carolina’s scores so far in 2018-19.
Senior Ian McGrane finished the night with six saves, one off matching a single-game career high.
The Gamecocks will be back in action Sunday afternoon at Stone Stadium, taking on Marshall at 2 p.m. ET. With the possible threat of impending weather from Hurricane Florence, stay tuned to GamecocksOnline.com for updates on the match.
