Gamecocks Hit the Road for Sun Belt Match Wednesday

Taking the Pitch

• This will be the 11th meeting between the Gamecocks and Eagles.
• This will be the first meeting in Statesboro between the programs.
• South Carolina has won the last three meetings by a combined score of 6-1.
• The teams have met each of last five seasons.
• The two ties in the series came in 2019 and 1997.
• The Gamecocks have out-scored the Eagles 29-9 in the series.

All-Time vs Georgia Southern (8-0-2)

Quick Notes

• South Carolina leads the nation in both cumulative and average attendance (4,434)
• Carolina has hosted three of the top seven highest attended on-campus NCAA men’s soccer home matches this season (#5 – Old Dominion, #6 – Jacksonville, #7 – UNCW).
  • They also claim seven of the top 14 spots in highest attended home matches (#10 – Georgia State, #12 – USC Upstate, #13 – Queens, #14 West Virginia), along with their road match at Clemson ranking as #11. No other program has more than one game in the top 14.
  • Only Clemson, Creighton and Maryland have two matches in the top-20.
• South Carolina is the only program in the nation to have all of its home matches (7) rank in the top-50 for attendance.
• Ethan Dekel Daks’ goal vs Old Dominion with five seconds left was the latest goal in regulation since Tucker Monheimer with one second left vs Jacksonville on 10/23/2019.
• For his efforts, Dekel Daks was named the Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week.
• The Gamecocks held Georgia State to one shot on goal. It was the first time since 2014 (also against GSU), that they’ve held a team to 1 SOG or less.
• South Carolina defeated No. 24 Kentucky for the first time since 2016 and the first time in Lexington since 2012.
  • It was their first win over a ranked opponent since 2019.
• Ben Alexander was named the Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week.
  • He was the first Gamecock to win a Sun Belt POW award and the first defensive player to earn any POW honor since 2017.
• The Gamecocks tallied four goals in the match against Queens, their first four-goal match since scoring four against Winthrop on Sept. 9, 2022.
• Carolina also earned five assists in the match, the first time they finished with five in a match since Sept. 5, 2006, against Centenary.
• This is the 45th season of South Carolina men’s soccer.
• The Gamecocks have an all-time record of 525-284-84.
• South Carolina finished the regular season last year leading the nation in average attendance with 2,839 fans per game.
• The Gamecocks are in their second season in the Sun Belt Conference.
• Carolina was picked to finish fifth in the conference by the coaches.
• Peter Clement and Adam Luckhurst will serve as team captains for the season.
• The roster features 10 newcomers; five transfers and five true freshmen.
• They return eight starters from a season ago, including four starters in the defensive end.
• The team return Adam Luckhurst who led the Gamecocks in every offensive category.

For the latest on men’s soccer, visit GamecocksOnline.com or follow the team’s social media accounts on Twitter @GamecockMSoccer, Facebook /GamecockMSoccer, and Instagram @GamecockMSoccer.