The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, November 10, 2003, Page 8, Image 8
8 THE GAMECOCK ♦ Monday, November 10, 2003 GAME SCHEDULE
< MEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Sakalai All-Stars,
7:30 p.m. Thursday
CONTACT US MEN’S AND W0MEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING
vs. Florida, Friday
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? FOOTBALL vs. Florida, 12:30 p.m. Saturday
E-mail us at gamecocksports@hotmail.com VOLLEYBALL vs. Florida, 7 p.m. Friday
Men’s soccer can’t get past UNC
PHOTO BY TRISHA SHADWELl/THE GAMECOCK
(JSC’s Makan Hislop slides into a defender in Saturday’s 1-0 loss to the No. 13 North Carolina Tar Heels. It was Senior Day and the
final game of the Gamecocks home season.
\
BY STEPHEN DEMEDIS
THE GAMECOCK
In the Carolina border battle,
the USC men’s soccer team (8-7-2)
dropped its final home game of the
season to the University of North
Carolina (12-3-3) by the narrowest
of margins, 1-0.,
While the loss all but eliminates
USC from postseason play, the
team turned in one of its strongest
efforts of the year against the 13th
ranked Tar Heels.
The Gamecocks came out
strong in the first half, pushing the
Heels deep in their own end.
Possession and momentum swung
back and forth between the two
sides until UNC took the lead in
the 43rd minute of play.
The go-ahead goal came on a
counter attack by North Carolina.
Forward Wes Shull found a charg
ing Corey Ashe in the box and
crossed the ball over. The fresh
man timed the pass perfectly and
scored uncontested by an under
manned Gamecock defense.
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the counter play, and we knew
that coming in,” USC head coach
Mark Berson said. “We knew that
when we brought the ball forward
that we had to complete our passes
and not get caught with too many
people up field. On the goal, they
just had numbers and found each
other very quickly. It was lethal.”
USC played catch-up the re
mainder of the game and, despite
many opportune shots, was unable
to tie the score. Throughout the
game, they didn’t control the ball
well and displayed a lack of inten
sity. The team totaled 13 shots but
continued to fail in converting
their scoring chances.
“The stats are dead even
tonight, except for one, and that is
because we didn’t finish our
chances,” Berson said. “That has
been a thing that we are working
on. Not just tonight; but going
back, our record is significantly
different if we just convert on
some shots.”
Forward Ayo Akinsete,
Carolina’s leading scorer, finished
with a team high four shots but
was unable to hit his mark each n
time. USC also failed to convert on '
free kicks around the box and ne
glected to take open shots from the
top of the penalty area. When the
Gamecocks did fire, UNC’s goal
keeper Justin Hughes was in po
sition to make the save.
USC’s defense turned in yet an
other strong effort in the narrow
defeat. Goalkeeper Brad Guzan
shut down a potent UNC attack
with many lunging saves and fin
ished with five saves on the night.
The back three shut out North
Carolina’s top two scorers, Jamie
Watson and Marcus Storey, and
held the two to a mere three shots
on goal.
“South Carolina’s defense
played a great game tonight,”
Storey said. “We knew that they
were tough at the back, and we
tried to find different ways to beat
them. We were lucky to get that
first goal on a break, and they
played us tough the rest of the
game.”
The loss brings the overall
record between the two schools to
13-10-1 in North Carolina’s favor,
but also affects each team’s sea
son. North Carolina will play next
week in the ACC Tournament
against N.C. State and likely ad
vance to the NCAA Tournament.
USC will end its season in Miami
next week against Florida
International, a team currently
ranked eighth in the nation.
Saturday’s game also marked
the conclusion of midfielder Jack
Cummings’ career with the
Gamecocks. As the only senior on
the squad, Cummings was hon- ‘Jj
ored before the game with his par
ents, Nancy and Ken Cummings.
Cummings finished his four years
as team captain and with seven
goals to his credit.
USC’s match against Florida
International will be at 7 p.m. on
Nov. 15.
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Volleyball falters against Vols
BY WES WOLFE
TIIEIiAMECOCK
The USC volleyball team (12
14, 6-8 SEC) couldn’t stop the
Tennessee attack as the Lady
Vols (18-8,8-6 SEC) took it to the
Gamecocks 3-1.
The win was the first SEC road
win for UT this season, its first
win in Columbia and first sweep
of USC since 1993.
“We are a good team at times
in our matches, but we need to
put it together all at once,” USC
head coach Kim Hudson
Christopher said. “Today was not
one of those matches. Shonda
Cole showed a lot of maturity to
day. She has made the transition
from a great high school player
to a good college player.”
Cole came up big for Carolina
in the loss, posting 17 kills and
oply four errors to hit .382 on the
day. Niece Curry also played
well for the Gamecocks, nailing
nine kills and committing no er
rors to lead the team in hitting
at .562. Still, Cole and Curry
could not put together enough
offense to counter Tennessee,
who had four players with dou
ble-digit kills.
The first game had Carolina
out-hitting Tennessee and play
ing close, but still couldn’t seem
to put it together, and the
Gamecocks lost 30-26.
Game two started out like a
blowout, with the Lady Vols lead
ing by as many as 11 before USC
game back to tie it up at 24.
Through Gamecock mistakes
and good play by UT, Tennessee
pulled out the win 30-28.
Carolina finally got back on
the road in the third game by
jumping out to an eight-point
lead. USC led by eight at several
times during the game, eventu
ally winning 30-22. Cole had five
kills in the game, while Carolina
played mistake-free as a team
and did not commit any errors.
It looked like the Gamecocks
might have turned the match
around in the fourth game, but it
was not to be. Carolina actually
led 20-14 before falling victim to
a run by the Lady Vols who
pulled even, then pulled ahead
and won 30-26.
USC will next be on the court
against the undefeated Florida
Gators on Friday and Georgia
on Sunday. Florida will certain
ly prove to be tough to handle
and lived up to advanced billing
in a 3-0 dominant performance
against Carolina on Oct. 26 in
Gainesville.
Georgia will also be tough;
the Bulldogs beat the
Gamecocks 3-1 earlier in the sea
son and held USC to only 14
points in game four of the
match.
Florida will play Carolina at 7
p.m. on Friday, and Georgia will
step on the court at 1:30 p.m. on
Sunday. Both matches will be at
the Volleyball Competition
Facility.
Following this weekend’s
matches, Carolina will play host
to the SEC Volleyball Tourna
ment, which will be held at the
Volleyball Competition Facility
from Nov. 21-23.
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BRIEFLY
Gutierrez, Suzuki
win doubles match
The USC women’s tennis
team finished up the fall season
at the SEC Coaches Fall Classic
in Atlanta on Saturday.
Carolina placed an individ
ual or a doubles team in the
semifinal of each flight that a
member of the team competed
in.
Miranda Gutierrez and
Ayako Suzuki teamed up to win
in doubles, making them the
only winners for the
Gamecocks.
Gutierrez and Suzuki
knocked off the No. 1 seed in
the B doubles tournament. The
combo defeated Laura Maurer
and Christine. Simpson of
Kentucky 8-4.
In the A doubles, Christyn
Lucas and Magda Wojdylo fin
ished fourth of 16 double teams
after falling to Sarah Foster and
Joel Schewnk of Kentucky.
“We had a good weekend in
Atlanta competing against the
rest of the SEC,” USC head
coach Arlo Elkins said.
The team will resume play
next semester when it competes
against the Furman Paladins
on Feb. 14.
Equestrian team
has strong finish
The USC equestrian team
placed first and second in two .
western IHSA competitions at
Judson College on Saturday in
Marion, Ala.
It was the final show of
the fall semester for the
Gamecocks.
Freshman Rachel Sternoff
won the Open Horsemanship
and was named high point rid
er. Also for USC, freshman
Julia Johnson was named re
serve high point rider in both
competitions.
Johnson was second and fifth
respectively in reining and
horsemanship in the first com
petition and won reining in the
second.
Carolina gets the season go
ing again on Feb. 7, when the
team will play host to a show
with Kansas State.
USC swimming and
diving defeat LSU ^
The USC men’s and women’s
swimming and diving team (2-2)
picked up a win on the road
against the LSU Tigers on
Friday. The men’s team won 144
96, while the women took a 133
110 victory.
For the men, Tamas Szucs
placed first in both the 200-yard
freestyle and the 500-yard
freestyle, while several other
Gamecocks finished second.
Andy Bradley won both the 1
meter and 3-meter diving titles.
Ashleigh Bastak had a big
day on the women’s side with a
first-place finish in the 50-yard
freestyle and a second-place
landing in the 100-yard^
freestyle. Jennifer Assen took
first in the 200-yard freestyle
and the 500-yard freestyle.
Allison Brennan finished first
in the 1-meter and second in the
3-meter, with Holly Hodges
winning the 3-meter.
Carolina’s next meet will
come against the Florida Gators,
who will come to town Friday.
Sooners ’ defeat ofAggies wasn ’t show of bad sportsmanship
BEN SINCLAIR
GAMECOCKSPORTS@HOTMAIL.COM
Running up the score
can’t always be avoided.
After convincingly whipping
the Texas A&M Aggies 77-0 on
Saturday, you would think there
would be little to criticize about
the Oklahoma Sooners and head
football coach Bob Stoops. What
sweet revenge on a team that cost
Oklahoma a shot at last vear’s na
tional title, right? Apparently, that
is not the case in today’s society.
In this new college football
world we live in, filled with quirky
BCS formulas that determine the
two teams playing for the nation
al championship, coaches now
have to win large enough to main
tain their ranking, yet not beat a
team so bad that the winning team
is looked upon as having bad
sportsmanship.
Yes, 77-0 is a bad score. Even
Steve Spurrier did not put that
much of a beating on Central
Michigan. But why must a coach
defend himself for the other team
playing so poorly? The Aggies
should be asking themselves how
they managed to get more yards
in penalties than in total offense.
Or maybe how they got beat worse
than any team at Texas A&M
since they began playing football
108 years ago.
In fact, if anyone showed poor
sportsmanship in this game, it
was Texas A&M. Midway
through the fourth quarter, the
Sooners mercifully ran four
straight running plays up the
middle from the 3-yard line in a
clear attempt to avoid scoring 80
points and getting the game over
with. Instead of gracefully re
turning to the sidelines after fi
nally stopping the Sooners on
fourth-and-goal, the Aggies cele
brated like they had just made a
goal-line stance to win the na
tional championship.
More times than not, the person
who is crying about sportsman
ship and running up the score ei
ther plays, on or is the fan of a ter
rible team. Instead of crying about
how bad someone is beating you,
how about figure out a way for
them not to score 77 points with
out you getting three? Better yet,
if you are getting beaten that bad
ly and want to quit, start running
the ball so that you can get off the
field as soon as possible.
Anyone remember the Outback
Bowl in 2002, when South Carolina
had a comfortable 28 0 lead the
Gamecocks held late in the third
quarter? If not for an interception
that was returned deep into
Gamecock territory late in the
fourth quarter, that might have
been the biggest comeback in
Outback Bowl history. As Daniel
Weaver came on to kick the even
tual game-winning field goal from
42 yards out as time expired, I was
praying that we had “run up the
score” just a little bit more on
Ohio State.
Our beloved Gamecocks have
been on the other side of the fence
as well. Just two weeks ago, the
Gamecocks rallied from a 43-14
deficit in the third quarter. At that
moment, I was glad that I did not
make the trip to Ole Miss and was
planning my postgame meal.
However, with a little less than
two minutes to go in the game,
USC kicked off trailing 43-40. One
defensive stance or an onside kick
and USC could be bowl eligible
right now. Yet I wonder if Eli
Manning and company would
have rolled up a few more points
when the score was 43-14 would
people have claimed that Ole Miss
demonstrated little sportsman
ship. I know they would have
liked at least one more touchdown.
A game is not over until it is
over. In fact, what separates a
miraculous comeback and a mas
sacre is usually the resiliency of
the team being beat. This is why
sports fans cherish the seemingly
impossible comebacks that occur^
more often than they seem. ThaV
is why I have not forgotten when
the 1993 Buffalo Bills rallied from
a 32-point deficit to defeat the
Houston Oilers in the National
Football League playoffs. That is
why no one will forget the San
Francisco 49ers coming back from
24 points down in the final quar
ter to defeat the New York Giants
last year in the playoffs.
Next time the Aggies get down
35-0,1 suggest they think the same
way — or it could get really ugly.
Sinclair is a graduate student in
the College of Education. _