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******* - -O ~ Gamecock Sports Schedule ■ Volleyball at Georgia, Fri., 7 p.m. ■ Women’s soccer at Vanderbilt, Fri., 7 p.m. ■ Men’s golf in Dalton, Ga., Fri.-Sun. ■ Football at Kentucky, Sat., 7 p.m. PAGE 10 1 - %\\t (BaiTICCOCk Friday, October 6,2000 USC tries to avenge losses to Clemson by Kyle Almond The Gamecock It’s been five years since the South Carolina men’s soccer team last defeated Clemson. The Gamecocks beat the Tigers 3-2 in 1995, but they’ve lost their past five meetings with their in-state rivals, including a second round NCAA Tournament game in 1997. USC looks to end its losing streak Sunday when it faces Clemson at The Graveyard. Both teams come into the contest with their confidence high. USC (8-1-1) hasn’t been beaten in its past eight games, and with upsets of Top 10 teams Virginia, Maryland and Penn State along the way, it has climbed all the way to No. 4 in the coun try by the NSCAA. The Tigers (7-2) have won their last four matches and are ranked No. 20 in the nation. Gamecock goalkeeper Henry Ring, a red shirt senior who has been at Carolina since their losing streak against Clemson began, expects a hard-fought game. “Every time we play them, as soon as the whistle blows, it gets so intense,” Ring said. “It’s probably the most intense game we play all sea son.” in men iaM live meetings, uem^un iias> outscored USC 9-1. But that doesn’t bother USC forward Jordan Quinn. “That doesn’t worry me,” Quinn said. “It’s a new year every year, with a totally new team and new guys. If we do what we have been do ing, we should win.” What the Gamecocks have been doing is win ning soccer games, and lots of them. Since their loss to UNC-Charlotte Sept. 4, USC has been on a tear, knocking off No. 1 Vir ginia, No. 8 Maryland and five other teams. Last Sunday, the Gamecocks beat No. 2 Penn State 1-0 in University Park, Pa. Nineteen of the 24 players on South Caroli na’s roster are either freshmen or sophomores. But for a relatively young and inexperienced squad before the season, the Gamecocks have surprisingly displayed a lot of maturity during the first half of the year. ‘This is a great group of guys,” Mark Berson, USC’s head coach, said of his team. ‘They have a wonderful fighting spirit, and they have a great mentality for the game.” “Our early season schedule has given us a lot of confidence,” Berson said. “And I don’t think it’s falsely earned either.” Berson is quick to point out, however, that by no means does the team think they are the best they can be. “This group doesn’t think they’ve arrived,” Berson said. ‘There’s a lot of soccer yet to play. We’re just at the midpoint of the season.” Clemson returns seven starters from last year’s squad that went 9-8-2 and beat USC 1-0 at Riggs Field. “They are very well-organized,” Berson said of the Tigers. “They move the ball around real well. They’re just solid in all areas.” Fabio Tambosi is the catalyst of the Clem son offense. The sophomore forward from Sao Paulo, Brazil leads the team in shots (26), goals (10) and total points (24). “Fabio Tambosi up front is a very exciting player,” Berson said. Senior midfielder Mark Lisi is the Tigers’ second leading scorer behind Tambosi with 17 points off six goals and five assists. The Engle wood, Colo, native was named to the All-ACC First Team in 1999 and has been red-hot lately, scoring four goals and two assists in the Tigers’ last two wins versus Brown and CS-Fullerton. Doug Warren, a sophomore transfer from In diana, will start in goal for Clemson. He has 29 saves on the year. Berson knows that there’s more at stake in this game than just bragging rights over their ri vals. “Our goal is to make it to the NCAA Tour nament,” Berson said. “And because it’s one of the big games in the South Region, it’s an im portant game for NCAA Tournament purposes too.” The Gamecocks missed out on the post season last year for the first time since 1996. But to Ring, the former All-American and current co-captain of the Gamecocks, this game is personal. “It’s my last chance to beat [Clemson],” he said. The sports desk can be reached at gamecocksports@hotmail.com. “Our early season schedule has given us a lot of confi dence, and I don’t think it’s falsely earned either.” Mark Berson USC Head Coach USC takes on Wildcats by Michael Haney The Gamecock South Carolina will try to rebound this week after suffering its first loss of the sea son last weekend to Alabama. The Gamecocks (4-1, 2-1 SEC) will travel to Lexington, Ky. Saturday to bat tle the Wildcats (2-3, 0-2 SEC) before a national television audience on ESPN2. Carolina will be looking to end a 10 game SEC road losing streak. The last time Carolina won on the road was a 39-13 vic tory over Arkansas in 1997. Kentucky is coming off of a 35-17 loss to the hands of the Ole Miss Rebels, suf fering through what head coach Hal Mumme called “the worst offensive per formance I’ve seen in four years here.” The Wildcats’ fast-paced offense was held to just 179 yards through the air while quarterback Jared Lorenzen was just 17 of 42 passing. The USC offense, on the other hand, will get a much needed boost as quarter back Phil Petty is expected back at 100 per cent after an ankle injury sidelined him most of last week and more than half of last week’s game at Alabama. ujv, neau coacn lou noiiz saiu rei ty’s movement in practice has been better than he anticipated. “He looked surprisingly good,” Holtz said. “He’s showing very little after-effects of the injury. He was sharp.” The Gamecock offense, which played considerably well against Alabama last week, will look to continue that trend against a woeful Kentucky defense. The Wildcats are giving up 35 points a game and almost 400 yards of total of fense to their opponents. The Wildcats ran up more than 500 yards of offense against Florida this year, only to see their de fense give up 59 points. “My heart goes out to the kids; they’re trying real hard. We just haven’t had a whole lot of success,” UK defensive coordinator Mike Major said. “I know everybody’s pointing fingers, but I let them know that I still believe in them.” While the defense has had its trou bles, the Kentucky offense has been on fire this year, last week not withstanding. The Wildcats are rolling up 418 yards and 30 points per contest. Lorenzen, who replaced last year’s starter Dusty Bonner, has been a “big” fixture of the offensive unit this year. Lorenzen stands at 6 feet 4 inches and weighs 275 pounds, an as tounding number for a quarterback. “You’d have a better time trying to pull the Statue of Liberty down than you do to drag him down,” Holtz said of Loren zen. “They got him on a diet,” USC nose guard Cleveland Pinkney said. “This dude is 290 pounds. I’ve seen him on tape. He’s all of that. He’s a big ol’ boy.” The Gamecock defense will try to put more pressure on Lorenzen then it has against past quarterbacks. Carolina has managed only four sacks in its past four contests. The defense ranks 10th in the SEC in sack ratio, and it aver ages one sack per 18 attempts defensive ly “Putting pressure on Kentucky is re ally going to be important,” said USC se nior defensive end Anthony Overstreet. “We’re gonna have to get in [Lorenzen’s] face and knock him down.” “We need lost-yardage plays; we need sacks; we need guys applying pres sure,” Carolina defensive coordinator Char lie Strong said. Holtz said this week’s game is a test for his players coming off a loss and play ing away for the second straight week. “Playing in front of a hostile crowd on Saturday night is not exactly how I would like to see our team come back from a dis appointing loss,” he said. The sports desk can be reached at gamecocksports@hotmail.com. Sean Rayford The Gamecock Head coach Lou Holtz and his Gamecocks look to get back on the winning track Saturday when they face SEC East rival Kentucky. Women’s soccer hits the road in search of first conference win — _ ■ I —— ■ ■ Amy Goulding The Gamecock South Carolina senior defender Kim Murray gets off a pass in a recent game against Utah. Murray and the Gamecocks are looking for their first SEC win this weekend. by Casey White The Gamecock The South Carolina women’s soccer team hopes to even out its SEC record this weekend when it faces two tough oppo nents away from the friendly confines of The Graveyard. The Gamecocks will be on the road as they travel to Vanderbilt on Friday, and to Kentucky on Sunday. The Vanderbilt women’s soccer team is riding high with a three-game winning streak, with wins over SMU, Auburn and Alabama. In its last game, the Commodores traveled to Tuscaloosa and defeated the Crimson Tide, 2-1, for its second SEC win. First-year head coach Robbie Church, previously from UNC-Charlotte, has led the Commodores to an overall record of 5 5 (2-1 SEC) for the season. He is coach ing a team that has made five straight NCAA Tournament appearances and has won two SEC Tournament championships. Assistant coach Billy Lesesne, also in his first year with Vandy, came to the Com modores from Erskine College. Vanderbilt has a strong offensive line this year with talent evenly distributed across the field. Leading the Commodores in total points is freshman Michelle Bruntlett with eight on the season, including three goals. Three other starters have also post ed three goals this season, including senior Katie Stegall, sophomore Kat Carroll, and freshman Jennifer Lewis. Another player to watch is sophomore Jen Talavera, who has come on strong in Vandy’s past few games and leads the team with three goals in SEC play, two of which were game-winners. The goalkeeper for the Commodores will be freshman Stacee Sproul, who has a season goals-against-average of 1.66. Last year, the Gamecocks edged the Commodores at The Graveyard 1-0. Kentucky is holding onto its strong rep utation as an outstanding women’s soc cer program with a 10-1 (3-0 SEC) record this season. Its only loss this year was in its third game of the season, when Min nesota won 1-0. The Wildcats have been the highest ranked SEC team for five straight weeks. Last week, the Wildcats re mained undefeated in the SEC with a 3-1 victory at Auburn. Leading the team since 1992, when the program began, is head coach Warren Lipka, who was named the 1999 SEC Coach of the Year. He received this award after guiding the Wildcats to a second place finish in the SEC’s Eastern Division. Kentucky boasts both a strong offense and defense. The Wildcats have taken 196 shots this season and have limited their op ponents to only 52 shots. Wildcat forward Keri Boyce leads the team in points this season with 21, including eight goals. Junior Annie Gage leads Ken tucky in assists with seven for 15 total points, and sophomore Elizabeth Ram sey has contributed four goals for 12 to tal points. Goalkeeper Beth Wells is another strong point for the Wildcats as she has record ed 20 saves with only six goals allowed for the season. Last year in an evenly matched game, the Wildcats defeated the Gamecocks at The Graveyard, 2-1 in overtime. Kentucky is undefeated against USC, who has failed to beat the Wildcats in their five meetings. Despite their early struggles, the Game cocks remain optimistic and hope to bring home two “W’s” to add to their record this weekend. After the two road games, they will re turn home to The Graveyard Oct. 20 to take on Auburn. The sports desk can be reached at gamecocksports@hotmail.com. Vollevball to take on ninth ranked Gators this weekend by Charles Tomlinson The Gamecock The South Carolina volleyball team takes its nine-game winning streak on the road this weekend to face two SEC foes. USC will trav el to Athens, Ga. to face the Bulldogs Friday night and on Sunday, they will head to Gainesville, Fla. to take on No. 9 Florida. The Georgia Bulldogs (9-7, 1-3 SEC) are looking to make up for a disappointing 1999 season in which they finished 10-16 and failed to qualify for the SEC Tournament for the first time in their volleyball history. This year, Georgia hopes that a change in leadership will allow its program to flour ish once again. In January, former Wake Forest head coach and 1999 ACC Coach of the Year Mary Buczek took the reins at UGA. “I told the team our keys will be consis tently working hard, being mentally focused, and sustaining that for a whole season, and getting better match to match,” Buczek said. Three starters are returning to the Bull dogs this season. One of these starters, junior ; Stacy Buerger, was selected to the All-SEC i Second Team in 1999 and led her team in digs and kills. Buerger, along with sophomore Jen- I nifer Foytich and freshman Luresa Forsythe, < are the powerhouses of the outside hitter 1 rotation. Erin Gomes and Kristine Keese, both two 'ear Georgia volleyball veterans, return as niddle blockers this season. Buczek’s biggest challenge this season las been finding a replacement for graduat ed starting setter Mindi Westfall. Senior Iskra 5erez has made her defensive presence known Volleyball SEE PAGE 11