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GAME SCHEDULE p-__ 8 MEN’S SOCCER at Wake Forest, 7 p.m. Friday rage o VOLLEYBALL vs. Mississippi St., 7 p.m. Friday Monday, September 20, 2004 WOMEN’S SOCCER at Auburn, 8 p.m. Friday USC rallies past 49ers in OT win By MATTHEW NAGY THE GAMECOCK USC’s senior leadership continues to shine as the Gamecocks rallied to defeat Charlotte Sunday afternoon at the Graveyard. Seniors Ashley Williams and Sarah Lentz provided the goal scoring for Carolina as the team was able to squeak a 2-1 double overtime victory from the 49ers. Carolina was lethargic from the start and did not play well in the first half. Charlotte took advantage of USC’s lazy play and got on the board first with a goal in the 23rd minute. 49er junior forward Liz Rucker netted the goal on an excellent corner kick by freshman Lindsey Beam. “We all just got caught standing,” said Lentz, who saw Rucker walk in virtually uncontested en route to scoring her first goal of the season. The goal served as a rude awakening to the Gamecock team that was coming off a huge upset win over rival Clemson. Sophomore Jessi Swaim led the charge early for Carolina, creating many chances for forwards Lexi Randazzo and Williams. USC was, however, kept off the scoreboard until early in the second half when Williams scored. It was an excellent long ball from Courtney Cobbs that led to a solid breakaway chance for Williams. With a quick header to put the ball to her feet, Williams then pulled away from chasing defenders and was able to slide the ball underneath a diving 49er goalie. As the ball trickled in the back of the1 net, USC was suddenly ■back into the game and the teams early season form began to reappear. The goal puts the senior striker' into a tie with Lydia Bienias for seventh place on the USC all-time career scoring list. Williams’ sixth goal on the season places her at the top of the SEC in scoring this year. In the last six games Williams has scored six goals, failing to score only in the contest against Clemson last Wednesday night. An overmatched Charlotte team was able to hold on to the tie long enough to send the game into two extra periods. Carolina had plenty of chances to take the lead in the second half, but was unable to convert. But as the end of the game loomed with 33 seconds remaining in the second overtime, Sarah Lentz was able to put the game away with a header that sailed past keeper Shannon Huffman. The goal was Lentz’s third goal of the year, all of them game-winners. Carolina was fortunate to escape with a win against a Charlotte team that outplayed them for most of the game. The Gamecocks are still reeling from the loss of junior co-captain Kimmy Criss on defense and looked lost on many occasions in the back. While Lentz and sophomore Erin Geldhof were able to shut down the wing play for most of the game, Carolina had plenty of trouble in dealing with the center of the field. The Gamecocks gave Charlotte plenty of second chances with poor clearances, but were able to keep the 49ers out of the back of the net in the second half and overtime. Charlotte now falls to 0-7-0 on the year as they look towards Conference USA play. Carolina now has to look to a tough SEC schedule that begins Friday at Auburn. Led by their two standout seniors, USC is coming into conference play with high expectations. The Gamecocks have a strong squad, but will have to work on communication between the backline and the forwards, as there were many errant passes against the 49ers. Carolina freshmen have gained plenty of experience in winning games such as this and look to carry that winning edge into the SEC season. “They’ve really stepped up for us,” said Ashley Williams, who will need the help of freshman standouts such as Courtney Cobbs and Lexi Randazzo in order to stay successful once the competition gets tougher. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@givm.sc.edu KATIE KIRKLAND/THt GAMtuUCK Freshman Kimmy Gillespie dribbles past a pair of Charlotte 49ers during Sunday’s 2-0 win. The victory came after senior Sarah Lentz scored the game winning goal with 33 seconds left in double overtime. % Carolina goes winless against Ivy League ■ USC loses to UPenn 2-1, ties Princeton 2-2 By BRIAN DAVIS THE GAMECOCK The USC men’s soccer team tied Princeton 2-2 after losing its first game to the University of Pennsylvania Quakers. Alex Reison scored the game tying goal on an assist from Ryan Rich. The Gamecocks were in the lead twice as sophomore Ayo Akinsete struck first, tallying his fourth goal of the season in the 43rd minute on an assist from sophomore forward Michael Sambursky. Just minutes into the second half .however, Rich scored from 20 yards out to even the match at 1-1. The Gamecocks took the lead again in the 60th minute as junior defender Greg Reece scored on a strike delivered by defender Josh Alcala. Despite the impressive late effort by Reece, the Gamecocks were unable to cling onto their lead as Princeton tied the game on Reison’s strike in the 65th minute, just five minutes after the last Carolina goal. Fouling was prevalent in this game as Carolina was assessed 15 penalties to the Tigers’ 10. Additionally, Carolina was given four yellow cards to the two assigned to Princeton. Sophomore goalkeeper Brad Guzan made nine saves on 14 Tiger shots, nearly tying his career record of 10. The Gamecocks were defeated for the first time Friday in a 2-1 loss against the host Quakers. After exchanging late goals, Stephen Kroculick scored a goal in the 78th minute of play to seal the victory for the Quakers. Kroculick was assisted on the play by Joshua Duyan. After battling through a scoreless first half, Duyan put the Quakers up TO in the 63rd minute with a shot from three yards out, his first goal of this season. However, the Gamecocks bounced back only eight minutes later as • freshman forward Sebastian Lindholm scored off of a free kick by Eric Szeszycki in the 71st minute. The goal, Lindholm’s second of the season, seemed to be a reinforcement of the Gamecocks’ ability to make big plays when necessary. “We showed real character to come back and tie the game, but we let it get away from us and we need to change that,” Gamecock coach Mark Berson said of the late goal. The Gamecocks held the advantage in shots over UPenn 15 14 but were unable to capitalize on any opportunities. Because of this offensive pressure, Quaker goalkeeper Daniel Cepero was forced to make eight saves on the 15 shots to preserve the lead. “We showed real character to come back and tie the game, but we let it get away from us and we need to change that.” MARK BERSON use COACH On the other side of the field, Guzan had four saves on the 14 Quaker attempts. Unfortunately however, the Gamecocks were unable to take much advantage of Guzan’s impressive performance. On the season, Carolina turned to 4-1-1 after their weekend against Ivy League competition. The men’s soccer team’s next match will be at Wake Forest as they look to oust this Atlantic Coast Conference opponent. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu KATIE KIRKLAND/THE GAMECOCK sophomore goalkeeper Brad Guzan clears the ball out of the box during a game this season. Guzan had nine saves Sunday. Volleyball holds serve at Gamecock Invitational SARAH ZILINSKY/THE GAMECOCK Freshman middle blocker Belita Sanders ahd teammate Lynae Vanden Hull go forla block in Saturday’s match against Michigan State. The Gamecocks won this year’s Gamecock Invitiational. By MEGAN GIBSON THE GAMECOCK The USC volleyball team was 2-0 this weekend, winning the Gamecock Invitational Tournament in Columbia. The Gamecocks defeated Michigan State on Saturday in five games (30-22, 30-21, 21-30, 25-30, 15-6) and Notre Dame on Sunday in four (30-28, 25-30, 30-22, 30-23). In their first win ever against the Spartans, Carolina took a 2-0 game lead in the match. In game one, the Gamecocks held Michigan State to a .000 kill percentage with eight attempts and eight errors, while the Gamecocks had 19 kills. USC controlled the second game as well, hitting a .529 with 20 kills and only two errors'. However Michigan State came out strong in game three and took an early lead. The Gamecocks trailed by as many as nine at one time and never made up the deficit to lose game three 21-30. Game four was a tight matchup with nine ties. Carolina stayed in the game, never trailing by more than four points until the final point gave Michigan State the game 30-25. The Spartans tied up the match at two games each, forcing the Gamecocks into a fifth and final game/ USC was down early in the fifth game 3-1. Shonda Cole gave the Gamecocks the momentum on a big kill that led to a 6-0 run. The Spartans never regained their composure and allowed Carolina to go on consecutive 4-0 and 3-0 runs while they totaled only six points, winning the fifth game 15-6. The Gamecocks then faced Notre Dame in the tournament championship game Sunday. In game one the Irish came out strong, leading USC by as many as eight on a 6-0 run to make the score 5-13. Sarah Morgan kept the Gamecocks alive with an impressive game-high six digs. She was also a powerful force at the net with a .400 kill percentage. The turn-around came when Lynae Vanden Hull went on a 7-0 serving streak, including one ace, to put USC up 19-16. During this run Morgan had two kills to keep the momentum with the Gamecocks. Due to a streak of unforced errors on serve-receive for the Gamecocks, Meg Henican of Notre Dame went on a serving run of her own to give the Irish back their lead 23-22. The game then tied at 25, 26 and 27 before Carolina finished it off 30-28. Game two looked much like game one, with Notre Dame taking the early lead. Cole led the way for the Gamecocks with a team-high six kills and a .417 kill percentage. The Irish were up 10-18 at one point, finding a hole behind USC’s block. However, impressive net play by Katelyn Panzau with four kills and Vanden Hull with three brought the Gamecocks back to within five. Unfortunately that five point deficit was never made up and the Irish won the second game 25-30. The Gamecocks came out strong in game three and took an early 6-2 lead through a serving streak by Nicole Miller including two aces in a row* However, Notre Dame’s Lauren Brewster retaliated a serving streak of her own with four aces to give the Irish the lead 7-9. It was then a close battle until the Gamecocks went on a 6-0 run to widen the lead to 25-18 and eventually win the game 30-22. Morgan led the game in kills with five while Lauren Ford guided the defense with an impressive three blocks. Notre Dame went on a five point run at the end of die fourth game to make the score 22-18. From there USC regained the momentum and only allowed the Irish five more points. Morgan again led the team with five kills, while Cole kept the Gamecocks defensively in the game with five digs. .USC finished off the game with an ace and an Irish error to win the match three games to one. Comments on ibis story? E-mail \ gamecocksports@gwvi.sc. edu