South Carolina Set To Play Host To Clemson

COLUMBIA, S.C. —- South Carolina men’s soccer will look to bounce back Thursday night when it plays host to in-state rival, No. 3 Clemson, at Stone Stadium. Kick is set for 7:00 PM ET and will be live streamed on gamecocksonline.com.
 
This will be the 49^th meeting between the two schools in a rivalry series that dates back to 1978. Clemson leads the series, 30-17-1. The Gamecocks (1-1) will look to snap a six-match losing streak to the Tigers (0-0) and earn their first win in the series since 2014.
 
“I think the first thing is we have to thank so many people who enabled us to have this event,” head coach Mark Berson said. “There’s approximately 21 D1 men’s soccer teams right now that are playing this fall so a big thanks needs to go out to Ray Tanner and the administrative staff and team, our trainers, our medical personnel, our ops people. All of them have made a safe environment for our players to be able to train and develop during this period. It’s a huge thing for us to be able to play.” 
 
After opening the 2020 Gamecocks Athletics fall schedule with a 2-0 victory over Georgia Southern on Sept. 19, Carolina fell to Georgia State its last time out on Sept. 24 in a 3-1 loss to Georgia State. Senior captain Kyle Gurrieri scored his first Carolina goal in the loss.
 
Through two matches, South Carolina has had 21 players see action, including nine newcomers and all three goal keepers. Freshman Sekou Soumah (180) and sophomore Dylan Bartel (173) have paced the Gamecocks in minutes played.
 
The match against Clemson will serve as Carolina’s first this year against a ranked foe. Carolina is 8-19-1 against top-25 opponents over the past five seasons.
 
With a win Thursday, Berson would move into a tie for the third-most victories in men’s soccer history. He currently sits in fourth with 515.
 
The University of South Carolina Athletics Department recently announced ticketing information for the fall soccer season with a majority of tickets being allocated to student-athlete and coach family members and a limited number of students.
 
Following the previously announced seating capacity plans, the Department of Commerce approved a reduced capacity plan to allow approximately 675 fans at Eugene E. Stone Stadium III this fall.
 
The majority of tickets will be provided to family members on the player-pass list for both teams. A limited number of tickets will be available on a game-by-game basis. However, due to the anticipated demand for these tickets exceeding the remaining number of seats, only fans who had purchased season tickets for the upcoming season will have the ability to purchase single-game tickets. 
 
Concessions stands at Stone Stadium will not be open for the 2020 season. Fans will be permitted to bring in one sealed bottle of water. 
 
Game day parking is available for fans in the Heyward Street Garage located at 1300 Heyward Street. Parking is free of charge in this location and is available on all levels on a first-come, first-served basis. Handicap parking is also located at designated spaces within the Heyward Street Garage. An elevator is located within the garage for fans who will need to access the elevator to get to the ground level. 
 
WATCH

• Fans can watch all South Carolina home matches through gamecocksonline.com. Watch links can be found at the top of the story and on the men’s soccer portion of the website under “live streaming.” 

CAROLINA NOTES

• The Gamecocks have out-shot their two opponents 26-17 through two matches.
• South Carolina has yet to concede a corner this year. It holds a 13-0 advantage on corner kicks thus far.
• Carolina is 1-0 against teams who are opening their season against the Gamecocks (Georgia Southern).
• Logan Frost has led the Gamecocks with four shots on goal through two matches.
• Brian Banahan has led the way with three points.

CLEMSON SCOUT

• Clemson returns 13 starters from its 2019 squad that went 18-2-2, including a 5-1-0 mark on the road.
• Kimarni Smith returns as the Tigers’ leading goal scorer with 13 in 2019.
• Clemson lost five routine starters from its 2019 team.
• Two All-Americans (Philip Mayaka and Smith) return for 2020.
• Smith led Clemson in goals (13), points (31), shots (48), shots on goal (25) and penalty kicks (2) last year.

CLEMSON SERIES NOTES

• The Tigers lead the series 30-17-1 all-time.
• Carolina owns a five-match winning streak in the series (1992-1995).
• Clemson holds a 13-9-1 advantage in Columbia.
• Carolina has nine shutouts in the series.
• The two teams have met 23 times in the month of October. Clemson holds a 17-5-1 advantage in October matches.