Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Soccer Veteran team solid from top to bottom CONTINUED FROM PAGE B5 had a very good preseason as well and we think that our two younger guys, Kyle York and Paul Love, will give us good depth there.” Berson acknowledges that his team has a challenging slate of games this year, but says it will only benefit the team in the long run. “You have two advantages (of playing such a tough schedule),” Berson explained. “The first ad vantage is that the NCAA Selec tion Committee goes a lot on RPI and strength of schedule. Also, I think it goes kind of hand-in-hand with the quality of player that we recruit. We recruit on a national level, our guys look to compete on a national level, and to do that you need to play a tough schedule.” Berson also believes the stiff competition will also make his team battle-hardened for the NCAA Tournament. “Our objective is to be in the national championship hunt at the end of the year, and we think that a tough schedule prepares us the best for that,” he said. Like their coach, USC’s play ers aren’t intimidated by its sched ule. Instead, they’re excited. “We have a great opportuni ty,” said Quinn, a junior who scored a team-high 13 goals last season. “We just have to capital ize and play tough every game. Every game is going to be a battle, it’s going to be really hard, but everyone seems to be happy, and we’re looking forward to starting the season.” “[The schedule] is going to be good preparation for the NCAA Tournament down the road,” said junior defender Tim Glowienka. “In the tournament, you don’t get much of a break; there’s not any weak teams.” Glowienka leads a defense that surrendered only 19 goals all of last season. Sophomore Jordan Smith is expected to step in to re place Chris Lockwood at left back, and Robert Rosenberg and Ryan Stocking fill out a back four that will try to make things easy on the new keeper. “Tim Glowienka and Ryan Stocking are both excellent play ers, and they anchor us in there,” Berson said of his defense. “Jor dan Smith is the guy that has moved over to the left back, and he’s had a very good preseason. He played last year a lot as a fresh man in the defensive midfield po sition.” The offense looks to be strong as well, but with a bit of a differ ent look from last season. Senior Joey Worthen has moved back to forward after a year in midfield and will team up with Quinn up top, while Daley, a sophomore, will drop back to an attacking midfield position. “All three of those guys I think are legitimate threats,” Berson said. “I think they’re really excit ing players and legitimate threats to win the game every time they step out there.” The Gamecocks face their first test tomorrow at the IP-Fort Wayne Showcase in Fort Wayne, Ind. Carolina will take on No. 4 In diana, which won the national ti tle in 1998 and 1999 and advanced to the Final Four last season. Sat urday, USC will play No. 23 Ken tucky. However, both games are ex hibitions and will not count against the teams’ record. The reg ular season opener for USC is scheduled for Sept. 2, at home against Penn State. NSCAA/adidas Men’s Soccer Top 25 -A. dSfcas 1. UConn 2. Creighton 3. SMU 4. Indiana 5. North Carolina 6. Stanford 7. Virginia 8. Clemson 9. Brown 10. San Diego 11. St. John’s 12. Washington 13. Duke 14. San Jose State 15. Saint Louis 16. Rhode Island 17. South Carolina 18. Ohio State 19. UAB 20. James Madison 21. Illinois-Chicago 22. Furman 23. Kentucky 24. UCLA 25. William & Mary Almond Georgia game is huge for Gamecock football team CONTINUED FROM PAGE B7 have their best squad in years, but they must stay focused. It’s inevitable that they’re go ing to hit some rough patches along the way, but they have to fight through them. I fear if things don’t go their way early like they did last year, the team will struggle. The Georgia game is big. A win there, and Carolina should go 7-4. A loss, and who knows. I’m betting on a win. Holtz should have them mentally prepared. Oh yeah, and Clemson’s going down ... hard. No Rod Gardner will mean victory for use. BASKETBALL The optimist: “With a great new coach like Dave Odom, we’re bound for the Sweet 16!” The pessimist: “A below-average re cruiting class plus a difficult division equals NIT again for USC.” The reality: The pessimist has a point, but they overlook the strong nucleus Carolina already has. This is the year that should see Chuck Ei dson. Tony Kitchings and the rest reach their playing peak. They’ve been playing together for two years, and if they stay healthy and play hard, they’ll earn an NCAA berth. BASEBALL The optimist: “Third time’s the charm for USC. Coach Tanner always fields a solid club, and this year we finally break through to the College World Series!” The pessimist: “Almost the entire start ing lineup got drafted, and Kip Bouknight is gone. Who’s going to step up and lead this team? This is a rebuilding year for Carolina.” The reality: Kip is gone, but Gary Bell and Chris Spigner aren’t slouches. Someone’s going to step up and fill the hitting void too. Just look at Tim Whittaker last year, who lit up the scoreboard after sitting for most of his first three years. Tanner should reload no problem. The Gamecocks will make the NCAA Tourna ment, but Omaha is a reach. Still don’t think you fit into one of the two categories? Here’s the test. Do you find yourself totally disagreeing with my predictions? If not, congratulations, you’ve managed to keep a level head over the years. If so, face the facts, bub. You’ve become a statistic. Good luck to all of USC’s teams, and de spite which side of the fence we’re all on, let’s hope the optimist is right. Go Cocks! Notes Three kickers vie for starting job CONTINUED FROM PAGE B6 Although Weaver will likely recover before the season opener, his injury has opened the door for true freshman Josh Brown, the first kicker Holtz has ever signed to a scholarship. Brown set a record in Mary land for most field goals in a sea son when he kicked 12 his junior year. Another option at placekick er for the Gamecocks is Joey Bow ers. Despite the uncertainty, Holtz feels more confident now in his kicking game than ever before. “We don’t have 12 kickers out there like we’ve had in the past,” he said. “We have three, and they all belong on a major college cam pus.” Kicking has been a sore spot for USC the last few seasons. USC’s field-goal kickers are a com bined 25-for-51 the past three years. Nesmith makes return as team’s No. 1 safety Free safety Antoine Nesmith missed the final five games last year because of a knee injury, and that opened the door for Deandre’ Eiland to come in and show what he can do. By picking four passes and making 56 tackles, Eiland was named to the SEC All-Freshman team. But as impressive as Eiland’s credentials are, Holtz will be stick ing with Nesmith. For now. “I think that would be unfair to a senior to say it would be some body else’s job,” Holtz said. “By my way of thinking, that’s Ne smith’s job, and it’s up to Eiland to take it away from him.” This year’s defensive line smaller, but still solid Langston Moore, Dennis Quinn and John Stamper will be lining up on the defensive line this year, trying to fill the void left by last season’s outstanding seniors Cleveland Pinkney and Cecil Cald c well. Moore, who will play nose tackle in Carolina’s 3-3-5 align ment, is the only large lineman the Gamecocks have at 300 pounds. Stamper and Quinn both weigh about 265. Regardless of size, Holtz re mains impressed. “All of them are playing well,” Holtz said of his starters. “Dennis is a little quicker, Stamper is a fine player. We’re pretty settled there; they’re playing well. We’fe look ing at who will relieve them dur ing the course of the game. That was one of Our success stories last year.” Williams may miss time after colliding with player . Cedric Williams, USC’s AI1 SEC left guard, gave the entire coaching staff a scare last Thurs day when the junior collided with Ryan Brewer and his knee buck led. The next morning, Holtz ex pressed his fear of Williams in jury. “If you see me jump out of my third-floor window, you’ll know,” Holtz joked. Fortunately for Holtz, the in jury only turned out to be a lateral strain. No. surgery will be re quired, and most importantly, the injury will not be season-ending. However, Williams’ status for the season opener against Boise State is in question. Kevin Rivers might start at left guard until Williams can play again. Williams protects quarterback Phil Petty’s blind side. Irons commits to USC Kenny Irons, a running back from Dacula, Ga., has committed to play football for Carolina next season. Irons, a rising senior, rushed for 1,100 yards and 15 touchdowns last season. The Gamecocks won the recruiting battle over top notch programs including Michi gan, Alabama, Auburn and Geor gia Tech. NAVAL RESERVE OFFICER'S TRAINING CORPS University of South Carolina aj (3JD im „o p Let the United States Navy or Marine Corps do it for you! On the spot scholarships available • Pays tuition, books, and an additional $200 a month • For more information contact: Lt. Figanbaum @ 777-3451 or 1-888-248-7026, figanbta@sc.edu Visit us at: www.sc.edu/NROTC i "My Part-time Job at UPS is Really Working Out." ' __H 1 “UPS is paying me almost $10,000 a year to get in the best shape of my life. See, I work part-time loading and unloading packages, about three to five hours a day. After sitting in class all day, it feels good to get some exercise. It’s like doing a couple of hours in a gym except you get paid to work out. That’s not the only advantage of working at UPS. There are other benefits-like choosing your own work schedule and getting paid holidays and vacations. No other company understands students like UPS. And no other company offers more. They make it easy to work your way through school. If the whole student body worked at UPS, everybody would be in better shape-physically and financially.” 1 I WORKING FOR STUDENTS WHO WORK FOR US. — Interested applicants should contact United Parcel Service @ 822-6294. An equal opportunity employer, m/f/h/v