Gamecocks Take Down Belmont Abbey College
Most goals scored since 2018
COLUMBIA, S.C. —- South Carolina men’s soccer defeated Belmont Abbey College, 5-0, Saturday night at Stone Stadium. Three freshmen scored goals to help the Gamecocks to their most goals in a regular-season match since their 5-0 win over Wofford in 2018.
Starting seven freshmen, Carolina (3-2) came out and immediately applied pressure on the Crusaders (0-1) with three-first half goals, two of which came from first-year Gamecocks.
Although the Crusaders are an NCAA Division II program, the match will count toward win-loss records and stats will count toward season and career marks, as well. This was South Carolina’s first match against a non-Division I foe since it faced a D-II opponent in 1998 when it opened the year with an 8-0 win over Coker College.
The Gamecocks were originally scheduled to face UAB, but the match was canceled due to positive COVID-19 tests among the UAB program and the widespread quarantines for those in their direct contact. Carolina will not look to reschedule the Blazers this fall.
Following his first career goal in the previous match to lead the Gamecocks to victory over Mercer, Christian Kraus started the scoring effort with a finish at the 23-minute mark to give Carolina a 1-0 lead over Belmont Abbey.
Just eight minutes later, fellow freshman Athan Cosse scored his first-career goal off the Spencer Mallion assist to push the lead to 2-0. Logan Frost’s finish at the 41-minute mark gave the Gamecocks a 3-0 lead through the first half of action.
Brian Banahan, with the Frost assist, continued the scoring at the 54-minute mark before Mallion’s goal at the 85-minute mark gave Carolina the 5-0 lead it wouldn’t surrender.
Ryan Bilichuk earned the win between the posts with two saves in 90 minutes of action.
Carolina outshot Belmont Abbey 17-5 on the night, with an additional 12-2 advantage in shots on goal.
With the result, the Gamecocks close the fall with a 3-2 record and will look ahead to conference play in the spring.
For more information on South Carolina men’s soccer, continue to check back with gamecocksonline.com.
SCORING SUMMARY
Christian Kraus (SC) – 23′
Athan Cosse (SC) – 31′
Logan Frost (SC) – 41′
Brian Banahan (SC) – 54′
Spencer Mallion (SC) – 85′
ASSIST SUMMARY
Spencer Mallion (SC) – 31′
Logan Frost (SC) – 54′
