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Men’s soccer hopes to continue tradition of excellence under coach Mark Berson BY KYLE ALMOND THE GAMECOCK The USC men’s soccer team had a good showing last weekend in a preseason tournament, tying No. 3 Indiana and beating No. 23 Kentucky, but a Penn State team hungry for revenge is right around the corner. The No. 17 Gamecocks will open regular-season play Sunday against PSU, and the Nittany Lions are looking for redemption aftei Carolina beat them 1-0 last season. Penn State was No. 2 in the nation at the time, and it will try to return the favor this weekend at the Graveyard. Head fcoach Mark Berson said he was pleased by his team’s play at the IPFW Soccer Showcase last weekend, but he knows Penn State presents an even stronger chal lenge. “Penn State takes it to another level,” Berson said Thursday. “They’re just an outstanding team. They have outstanding tal ent, they’re well-coached, well-or ganized and they’re one of the teams of heritage in college soc cer. “We went up there last year and won a very hard-fought, close game 1-0, so I’m sure they’re anxious to get this game underway. And we are too, because it’s going to be a great test for our team.” The Gamecocks tied Indiana 0-0 last Friday and defeated Kentucky 2-0 a couple days later. Berson was encouraged, but he still said there was room for improvement. “Overall, I think it was a solid performance,” Berson said of his team’s effort in the tournament. “I think it was sort of a workman like performance, and that’s what you like to see. If you want to see anything (as a coach), you want to see that the basics are in place and the guys understand what they’re doing. “Now, we’ve got to eliminate breakdowns and we’ve got to cap italize on opportunities that the other team gives us. That’s some thing that we’ve been working on this week.” The Gamecocks can’t afford to break down defensively with Penn State’s Ricardo Villar on the field. Villar, a senior midfielder from Brazil, is a candidate for the Hermann Trophy, given to the na tion’s top collegiate soccer player. He was injured for almost all of last season, but had 13 goals in 1999 and was an All-American. “Hopefully, we’ll force [Villar] to do a little defending, too,” Berson said. “We’re gonna have to make sure that he doesn’t get the ball in transition with us off balance, because that’s when he can be really dangerous.” Villar is joined in the midfield by senior Derek Poettiger, who was Penn State’s leading scorer last year with 32 points. Poettiger scored 13 goals and added seven assists in 2000. “They’re excellent,” Berson said of the Nittany Lions. “If I was pointing to a game where we would need all our fans, where we’re gonna need all our focus and all of our attention, it’s gonna be Sunday at 2 o’clock. It’s a huge game in college soccer, let alone in our schedule.” Berson is hoping for another huge turnout from USC fans Sunday. Last season, USC was fifth in the country in attendance. - “Homefield advantage for us is enormous,” he said. “If you look year after year, our fans are among the top fans in the country. We’re always in the top five or top ten in attendance, and the Graveyard is sort of the place to be in Columbia on Sunday after noon ... Our fans are unbelievable, and I wish we had more home games on the schedule.” Sunday’s opener is also Fan Appreciation Day at the Graveyard. T-shirts will be given to the first 500 USC stu dents, and USC players will be signing autographs after the game. 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