The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, November 25, 2002, Page 8, Image 8
PHOTO BY AARON HARK/THE GAMECOCK
Jordan Smith and the Gamecock men’s soccer team had their
season ended Saturday by Coastal Carolina In double overtime.
Men’s soccer team
ousted in first round
of NCAA Tournament
^4* Coastal
Carolina 2
7 (19-2-2)
eusc 1
(11-8-1)
BY KYLE ALMOND
THE GAMECOCK
A rocky season for the USC
men’s soccer team ended Saturday
when Coastal Carolina, defeated
the Gamecocks 2-1 in the first
round of the NCAA Tournament.
The game, which was played at
USC, was only 28 seconds away from
a penalty-kick shootout when
Coastal’s Bobby Crovo scored a gold
en goal to win in double overtime.
The Gamecocks (11-8-1) played
the Chanticleers (19-2-2) much
closer than the two teams’ earlier
meeting this season, when Coastal
won 3-0. They even held an early
1-0 advantage off a 36th-minute
goal by Dave Moore. But Coastal
roared back late to earn a spot in
the second round against Clemson
on Wednesday.
“Obviously, we are devastated
at this point to lose with 28 seconds
left on the clock,” USC head coach
Mark Berson said. “Our team
showed character today, as they did
all season. It was extraordinary
play for both teams, and give credit
to Coastal because they did a great
job today coming from behind.”
The Gamecocks started the sea
son 7-0-1 and were ranked in the top
five in a few national polls. But USC
struggled offensively for a stretch
and closed out the season 4-8.
The Gamecocks have gone to the
NCAA Tournament three of the
lastfour years, but they don’t have
a single win to show for it.
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Men
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7
the Gamecocks—highlighted by
Chuck Eidson’s pass to Rolando
Howell for an alley-oop dunk —
tied the game at 59.
With 6:26 left in regulation,
the Carolina Center’s electronic
equipment delayed the game for
more than five minutes. First,
the shot-clock buzzers sounded
in the middle of play. Then the
scoreboards blacked out, caus
ing the refs to call for a delay.
When everything was appar
ently in order, the Gamecocks in
bounded the ball only to have the
buzzers go off yet again. When
play resumed, the teams worked
to a 61-61 tie before Powell’s 3
pointer broke the tie and put the
Gamecocks up for good.
Eidson nearly completed a
triple-double, finishing the game
with 19 points, 10 rebounds and
nine assists. Eidson moved up to
10th on the all-time assists list
and is within six steals of be
coming USC’s all-time leader in
that category.
“Chuck made one great play
after the other, plays that win
ners make,” Odom said.
Odom, although happy about
the victory, was not without crit
icism for his team’s play, partic
ularly with Howell and Powell
getting into physical confronta
tions with ETSU’s Zakee
“Starting lineups are
going to change until I
feel comfortable, just
like they did last year.”
DAVE ODOM
use MEN'S BASKETBALL HEAD COACH
Wadood. One conflict ended in
technical fouls for Wadood and
Howell.
“You don’t show how tough
you are in individual confronta
tions,” Odom said. “You do it by
running back on defense and get
ting tough rebounds.”
Odom was also concerned
about the performances of
Howell and Kitchings, who are
coming off of ankle injuries.
Kitchings showed signs of rusti
ness, as he missed three oppor
tunities for put-back dunks and
was only 3-for-15 from the field.
“Tony and Rolando aren’t in
any kind of shape compared to
where they need to be,” Odom
said.
Odom said the inconsistency
from his lineup will lead to ad
justments in future games.
“Starting lineups are going to
change until I feel comfortable,
just like they did last year,” he
said.
USC’s next game will be
Friday against South Carolina
State at the Carolina Center.
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PHOTO BY ERIC SUTTON/THE GAMECOCK
Rolando Howell looks for a teammate to pass to during USC’s
season-opening win against East Tennessee State on Sunday.
Women
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7
Ciocan and two from Kelly
Morrone—gave the Gamecocks a
15-point lead midway through the
first half. Penn had 13 points by
the break.
The Tigers got 12 points from
Lakeia Stokes to keep pace with
Carolina before halftime.
Ciocan opened up the second
half with a 3-pointer, but the
Tigers, behind Khaili Sanders’ 10
points, closed the gap to seven
points.
“I think Cristina’s the best
point guard in the country, for
her size and for what she does,”
Walvius said. “She needs to pick
up some of the scoring for us, and
you can see that she’s capable of
that. She’s a great player.”
USC rallied with an 11-2 run,
including six points from fresh
man Sarah Burgess, to keep
Clemson (0-1) at bay.
Morrone also scored in double
figures for Carolina (10 points),
while Burgess contributed nine.
Despite being outrebounded as a
team, the Gamecocks’ Petra
Ujhelyi grabbed 12 boards to lead
all players.
USC’s stifling defense pro
duced 13 steals and limited the
Tigers to a 38.7 shooting percent
age in the game.
Sunday evening, the Gameco
cks used an outstanding perfor
mance from Penn to defeat the
College of Charleston 83-54.
“I really liked the way we
played in the first five minutes,”
Walvius said. “Good teams are
consistent; I don’t think we were
consistent today with our effort.
“I thought we had a lot of de
fensive breakdowns. The coach
ing staff at College of Charleston
was very prepared for us. They
exploited our defensive system
very well, and we haven’t seen
that very often.”
Penn had 14 of her 45 points as
USC raced out to a 23-5 lead early
in the game. The Gamecocks (2-0)
shot 44.7 percent from the field in
the first half, while limiting the
Cougars (0-2) to 30.4 percent.
The Cougars “were a small and
“I don’t think very many people will have an
answer for Jocelyn, to tell you the truth. Jocelyn
does so many things for this team with her hustle.
She’s a leader for our team, by example, with her
emotion and determination.”
SUSAN WALVIUS
use WOMEN’S BASKETBALL HEAD COACH
scrappy ream, uui wejusi warn
ed to go out and work hard. I
wanted to just play well,” Penn
said.
Walvius believes that Penn’s
play and leadership will make
other teams scramble to try to
stop her.
“I don’t think very many peo
ple will have an answer for
Jocelyn, to tell you the truth,” she
said. “Jocelyn does so many
things for this team with her hus
tle. She’s a leader for our team, by
example, with her emotion and
determination.”
The inside game was also
working for Ujhelyi, as she scored
12 points and snared 13 rebounds.
However, it was the outside
game that confounded Carolina,
only making four 3-pointers and
shooting 23.5 percent from behind
the arc.
While Penn was the story
again for USC, Burgess also
turned in a solid performance
with eight points, seven rebounds
and five steals. She said she is de
veloping well offensively but still
lifts iu iiiipruve uii nci uciciisc.
“My defense is not very good
right now, but I like to get into the
passing lanes,” Burgess said. “My
teammate Linda (Hoglund) told
me I was worried about offense,
and I’m thinking too much. I just
want to work on my defense and
get better.”
Despite not being able to find
much offense early in the second
half, the Gamecocks went on an
18-5 tear to put the Cougars out of
reach.
But Walvius doesn’t think her
team has gotten to the point
where it is firing on all cylinders.
“We don’t expect, as a basket
ball team, to be perfect right
now,” she said. “We’re not play
ing our best basketball right now.
We’re looking to improve.”
USC will spend its
Thanksgiving in the Virgin
Islands, playing a pair of games
against Oregon and Boston
College.
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For Games Played During
The Winter Break
Dec. 6, 2002 until Jan. 13, 2003
Temple
Wofford
Citadel
Ole Miss.
Dec. 2, 2002
Dec. 16, 2002
Jan. 2, 2003
Jan. 8, 2003
Special distribution of student tickets will be
Monday, Dec. 2 and Tuesday, Dec. 3, from
9am until 4pm. Distribution will be in Room
205 of the Russell House. Student tickets will
also be available on game day at the Arena
Ticket Office Student Ticket window from 9 am
until halftime of the game. Validation will cost
$15.00 for the games. Validations will be
available at distribution or at the Coliseum on
game night.
-Students are not guaranteed a student ticket
to each game, only the right to a ticket as
long as student tickets are available.
-Remember, the good seats go early, so get
your ticket as soon as you can.
Handicapped or disabled students can get
assistance by calling 777-6742
Football
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7
six meetings with their rival.
There were positives for the
Gamecocks. Williamson finished
with four catches for 140 yards, in
cluding a 70-yard touchdown re
ception in single coverage. He ran
a similar pattern for a 43-yard play
when the Gamecocks regained the
lead.
“We feel like if that pass is go
ing to work, why not stay with it?” ,
Williamson said. “So we stayed l
with it, good things happened.”
But Holtz compared this game
to the rest of the season. Turnovers
and a lack of big plays really hurt
the Gamecocks, he said.
The Gamecocks were cruising
along with a record of 5-2 before
falling to LSU 38-14. They led that
game 14-6 at the half, but the of
fense sputtered the second half
and the next three games — scor
ing just 17 points in 14 quarters.
Carolina finished 4-of-ll on
third-down conversions Saturday,
about average for the season.
“We never got third-down re
sults all year,” Holtz said. “Our
third-down play hurt us, and,
mainly, we got hurt across the
middle.”