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Men’s soccer program ready for the challenge BY J. KEITH ALLEN THE GAMECOCK Another season, another challenge. That is how USC men's soc cer Head Coach Mark Berson has viewed each campaign since coming to Carolina in 1978, and this season is no dif ferent. Berson’s squad will fol low its 12-win 2001-2002 season with a demanding schedule and hopes of appearing in their 16th NCAA Tournament. The Gamecocks open the season with an exhibition game against Appalachian State Aug. 23 and officially kick off the campaign the fol lowing weekend with matches against Charleston Southern and Jacksonville. USC heads to Durham for the Duke-Adidas Classic Sept. 6-8, where the team will com pete against Duke and N.C. State. After the matches the team returns home for one of the annual highlights of soccer season, the Gamecock Soccer Classic. Washington and New Hampshire come to Columbia to participate in the tourna ment on September 13 and 15, and Berson is looking forward to facing the Huskies. "This year they [Washington] could easily be one of the top five teams in the country," Berson continued. "Those will be teams that Gamecock fans don't get the op portunity to see everyday, so that's certainly going to be a big event for us." Berson also applauds the timing of the tournament, be cause it is sandwiched around the football team's home game against Georgia on September 14. He feels the influx of fans in town for the weekend will cre ate an exciting atmosphere at Stone Stadium. In addition to squaring off against new foes, Carolina will lock horns with Clemson twice, as well as fellow in-state rivals Furman. USC hits the road for what Berson considers "an im portant game" against defend ing national champion North Carolina on Nov. 8. The Gamecocks will be paced by leading scorer and points leader Jordan Quinn. The native of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., returns for his senior sea son after racking up 29 points with 13 goals last year. Quinn also netted five game-winning goals for the Gamecocks. Michael Bachmeyer will be in the goal for Carolina again this year after posting a stellar 2001-2002 campaign. The re turning senior collected 74 saves, with a 1.10 goals against average, and was a part of sev en shutouts. Bachmeyer al lowed 22 regulation goals and only one in overtime. Berson feels this year’s team has exciting young players who are ready to contribute and who will benefit from the experience of the squad's vet erans. "We have a very good core of veteran leadership re turning, and yet a very large influx of new players to bring a lot of excitement and talent into the program," Berson said. He singled out junior college transfer Ricky Quest as a new player already poised to make an impact this fall. Quest comes to Columbia as a two time junior college player of the year and is already consid ered a "veteran" by Coach Berson. The 2002-2003 season will be one of increased attention for the USC soccer team. Gamecock alums and US na tional team members Clint Mathis and Josh Wolfe brought the program to international prominence with their World Cup success. "It has certainly been a big bonus for us," Berson said. "The tremendous visibility that both Clint and Josh have brought to our program has been a huge bonus to us in re cruiting." The Gamecocks take the field with a scrimmage against Appalachian State Aug. 23. They open their regular season Aug. 30 against Charleston Southern at Stone Stadium. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK Jordan Smith and the Gamecocks won 12 games in 2001. Women’s soccer looks to be a force in the SEC The USC women’s soccer team open their season against * Birmingham Southern on August 30 at Eugene Stone II Stadium. In her second year as head coach Shelly | mith looks to continue her team's rise, > PHOTO BY AARON l HARK/THE I GAMECOCK I BY J. KEITH ALLEN THE GAMECOCK With the USC Women's Soccer team finishing above .500 (8-7-3) last season for the first time since 1999, Head Coach Shelly Smith is poised to take her squad to the next level in 2002. Carolina fin ished the season ranked No. 10 in the Southeast Region according to the NCSSA/Adidas poll, its high est ranking since 1999. Smith's team can look back to many positive experiences from 2001 and use them to mount a suc cessful campaign this year. Smith is renowned for turning around the moribund Rhode Island wom en's soccer program: her abilities were already visible in 2001, dur ing her first year as head coach at Carolina. The Gamecocks return to Stone Stadium Aug. 30 against Birmingham Southern. The early portion of this year's schedule is also highlighted with a visit from in-state rival Clemson on Sept. 11. The Tigers finished the season ranked 11th in the country and won last year's meeting, 3-0. The Gamecocks open SEC play against a tough Florida squad on Sept. 29. The Gators eked out a 1 0 win in a thrilling game in Gainesville last season. The loss was especially tough to take for USC, because it snapped a pro gram-best seven game unbeaten streak. Carolina wraps up its regular season slate with a home game against Wofford on Oct. 29. This year's SEC tournament will be held in Oxford, Miss., and begins the following week. Last season's co-captain, Melinda Carter, will lead Carolina's offense again in 2002. Carter scored three goals and four assists last year, and at the close of the 2001 campaign, she was named to the NSCAA Coaches All South Regional Team for the sec ond time in her career. She was also named to the All-SEC second team. The 2001 season was espe cially sweet for Carter, since she worked diligently to recover from a leg injury suffered in the 2000 campaign. Returning senior Jessica Julin will join Carter in the Carolina of fensive attack. The Finland native earned her First Team All-SEC honors in her junior season, scor ing three goals and eight points for USC. Julin punctuated her junior year with game-winning goals against Ole Miss and UNC Greensboro. The Carolina defense, which al lowed an average of one goal per game all season, has returning goalkeepers Carolyn Ortega and Elise Matthews back in the nets in 2002. The pair combined for a 1.95 goals-against-average with seven shutouts. Also returning on de fense is last year's co-defensive MVP, Sarah Lentz. The Florence native will be entering her red shirt sophomore season at Carolina. With a veteran line-up return ing and Smith's improvements to the program, Carolina is prepar ing to play deep into November and the NCAA Tournament. 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