Men's Soccer . February 14, 2021

Halloran Hat Trick Leads Gamecocks To Victory

Carolina takes down Winthrop to start spring

COLUMBIA, S.C. —- South Carolina men’s soccer’s Andrew Halloran recorded his first collegiate hat trick to help lead the Gamecocks to a 4-2 victory over Winthrop on Sunday at Stone Stadium. Playing through rain and frigid conditions, Halloran scored three second-half goals to improve the Gamecocks to 4-2 on the season.

Carolina held possession for 52 percent of the match and took advantage of the ball with a 19-8 advantage in shots on its way to its first victory in the spring portion of the schedule.

“I’m really happy for Andrew,” head coach Mark Berson said. “He certainly came in and made a difference in the game. He’s done that throughout his career but to really get off the mark and get three goals? What a great accomplishment for him today. I’m really happy for him.”

South Carolina (4-2, 0-0 C-USA) had to fight through early adversity as the Eagles (0-1, 0-0 Big South) scored just 13 seconds into the match to take a 1-0 lead. But the Gamecocks didn’t panic and instead found the equalizer with Logan Hitzeman’s goal at the 16-minute mark to put the match at 1-1.

After an even first 45 minutes, Halloran changed the course of the match with his first goal of the afternoon at the 69-minute mark to give the Gamecocks their first advantage of the day at 2-1. Just four minutes later, he found the back of the net again to push the lead to two at 3-1.

With the help from Brian Banahan’s assist at the 84-minute mark, Halloran scored his third goal of the match to give Carolina the 4-1 advantage. Winthrop later found the back of the net at the 86-minute mark but the comeback effort wasn’t enough as the Gamecocks pushed on to victory.

Ryan Bilichuk earned the victory in net for Carolina.

For more information on the Gamecocks, continue to check back with gamecocksonline.com.

UP NEXT
Carolina remains home this week to play host to USC Upstate on Wednesday, Feb. 17 at 7:00 p.m. ET. Live stats and a free live stream will be provided.

SCORING SUMMARY
Jonathan Foster – Winthrop (:13)
Logan Hitzeman – South Carolina (16′)
Andrew Halloran – South Carolina (69′)
Andrew Halloran – South Carolina (73′)
Andrew Halloran – South Carolina (84′)
Grayson Woodard – Winthrop (86′)

ASSIST SUMMARY
Brian Banahan – South Carolina (84′)