Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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r i ^ GAME SCHEDULE Page y VOLLEYBALL vs. Tennessee, 7 p.m. Wednesday Monday, September 27, 2004 MEN’S SOCCER at Davidson, 7 p.m. Wednesday Men’s soccer knocks off Wake Forest By BRIAN DAVIS THE GAMECOCK ^ The South Carolina men’s soccer Vteam defeated No. 13 Wake Forest 1-0 Friday on a strike by freshman midfielder J.D. Moon. Freshman forward Sebastian Lindholm fed Moon the ball with a precise cross, and Moon angled it into the lower corner of the net, just past Wake Forest goalkeeper Brian Edwards. The goal, Moon’s first of his career, came in the 73rd minute of play as each team was struggling to put many shots on goal. “It was a fine attacking play down the left side, J.D. struck the ball perfectly,” Carolina coach Mark Berson said. “The goalkeeper gave a good effort, but it was a great shot.” In the game, the Gamecocks trailed the Demon Deacons 17-7 in shots but only 6-4 in shots on goal. In the first half, each team had only one shot on goal and consequently each goalie had only one save. In the second half, however, the game became more offensively oriented as there was a total of 17 shots in the period. Fortunately, the Gamecocks were able to capitalize off this time period in the latter portion of the second half. “Wake Forest played very well and had us working hard from the opening to the closing whistle,” Berson said of the competitive effort Wake Forest displayed throughout the game. Carolina was plagued by penalties for much of the game as well, receiving three yellow cards, and a second to sophomore defender Makan Hislop resulted in his ejection from the contest. Additionally, the Gamecocks were flagged for four offsides penalties to the Demon Deacons’ zero. “Wake Forest played very well and had us working hard from the opening to the closing whistle.” MARK BERSON use MEN’S SOCCER COACH “Effort was the key tonight. Our team gave great effort for all 90 minutes,” Berson said. Sophomore goalkeeper Brad Guzan’s performance resulted in his third shutout of the season. Guzan made six saves in a full 90-minute effort. For the season, Guzan has given up just under one goal a game at .97 per contest and has a .844 save percentage throughout. He has seen all the action in each contest the Gamecocks have had. Lindholm has become a dynamic player in the Carolina offense thus far this season. In the seven games the Gamecocks have played, the striker has tallied a total of two goals and three assists. He trails only sophomore forward Ayo Akinsete in points by one, 7-8. With the win, the Gamecocks hope to offset their first loss and first tie this season in last weekend’s UPenn Tournament. This is the Gamecocks’ second defeat of a top 25 team after beating then-No. 16 Portland in the adidas-Gamecock Classic. Carolina will next play at Davidson College Wednesday at 7 p.m. This weekend, the Gamecocks will return home to play Gardner Webb Sunday at 4 p.m. -! Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu Women’s soccer loses 2 at Auburn, Alabama By MATT NAGY THE GAMECOCK The USC women’s soccer team will ^return from Alabama winless after two ^ games during the weekend. The Gamecocks dropped games to SEC 1 opponents Auburn and the Alabama, putting them at 6-5 on the season and 0 2 in SEC play. It was an errant pass that led to the only goal in the game for Auburn, as the USC women fell 1-0 Friday evening at the AU Soccer Complex. In the 30th minute of the first half, USC defenders gave the ball away to Auburn forward Sarah Steinmann. The senior forward wasted no time converting the giveaway into a strong goal that sailed past Carolina keeper Laura Armstrong. “I don’t think we played our best, and we made a mistake in the first half, Auburn took advantage and scored,” - coach Shelly Smith said, who saw the B Gamecocks fall to Auburn for the first ^ time in three years. “We can’t let down and expect to be covered all the time.” On the other side of the pitch, the Gamecock offense was unable to get the ball in the back of the net, taking only four shots on the evening with all of them coming in the second half. For many on the Carolina team, this was their first experience in tough SEC play. Senior Ashley Williams was able to pick up the offensive tempo into the second half by tallying three shots in the period, forcing Auburn goalkeeper Megan Rivera to make two solid saves. Armstrong had a strong outing despite giving up the game’s only goal. The freshman from Greenwood made five saves for the Gamecocks. Auburn held the shot advantage in the game 10-4, and Carolina was forced to look to > rebound in the second game of the weekend, facing the Crimson Tide. South Carolina was fortunate early as a cross from Courtney Cobbs banked off an Alabama defender in the 13th minute of the contest. Carolina was able to hold the Tide scoreless throughout the first period but had a defensive breakdown in the second half, allowing Alabama to score four goals on its way to a 4-2 victory Sunday afternoon. Alabama scored twice within two minutes near the start of the second half to take the lead away from the Gamecocks. Allison DeLisle scored the first goal for the Crimson Tide, and 34 ’ seconds later teammate Kylie Body put the ball in the back of the net to give Alabama the one-goal edge. While USC led in the shots category 11-9, freshman goalkeeper Laura Armstrong was only able to make one save, allowing four goals in the second h^lf. Continuing a stellar senior campaign, Sarah Lentz was able to tie the game for USC when sophomore Jessi Swaim found the co-captain Lentz on a corner kick. Lentz was able to head the ball past a diving Laura Lowman and into the right-hand corner of the net. The goal is Lentz’s fourth of the season, leaving her only behind fellow senior Ashley Williams as the team’s leading goal scorer. The tie was short-lived, however, as just over a minute later Alabama had recaptured the lead, and just two minutes later the Crimson Tide had doubled up on Carolina, putting the game at an unreachable 4-2. Jordan O’Banion scored in the 77th minute for the Tide, and teammate Allison Delisle scored her second goal on the afternoon in the 78th minute. Carolina was unable to get on the board again in the final 21 minutes of play, and Alabama came away with the victory. The USC women return home Friday to face the Georgia Bulldogs at the Graveyard. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc. edu KATIE KIRKLAND/THE GAMECOCK Freshman defender Kimmy Gillespie, center, battles two opposing defenders in a win over Charlotte earlier this season. The Gamecocks fell short in each of their first two conference matches, losing Friday’s match to Auburn, 1-0, and Sunday’s match to Alabama, 4-2. ‘Volleyball splits weekend games w By MIQUELJACOBS THE GAMECOCK The USC volleyball team opened this weekend taking on two teams both winless against the Gamecocks since 1994. USC (8-3, 1-1 SEC) dropped the opener to Mississippi State Friday in three games with scores of 33-31, 30 27, 30-28, but regrouped to sweep Ole Miss on Sunday afternoon (30-26, 30 |^25, 30-24) to split the weekend. ^P For the first time since a 3-2 decision a decade ago, Mississippi State (8-5, 1-0 SEC) defeated the Gamecocks in convincing fashion in front of a crowd of 644 fens. Under first-year coach Tina Seals, the Bulldogs won just their second conference opener of all time on a sloppy effort by the Gamecocks. “We played poorly tonight,” USC coach Kim Fludson said. “(There was a) poor performance by our passing team and too many serving errors. We just tried to talk to them between games two and three about passing; they (the Bulldogs) didn’t make unforced errors.” Game one set the tone for the night as USC trailed 29-23 before a 6-0 ran that tied the game at 29 apiece. But two Aherrors by the Gamecocks allowed the HUJulldogs to stay ahead and clinch the close game 33-31- The Gamecocks were held to a .071 kills percentage and a season-high 14 errors in game one. It was much of the same story in games two and three, as the Gamecocks never led in the second game and never held more than a 2-point lead in the third despite 17 ties and seven lead changes. USC held onto hope as Shonda Cole’s service ace took Carolina to a 25-23 lead in the third game, but a string of errors by the Gamecocks allowed the Bulldogs to complete the sweip. When the Ole Miss Rebels (7-6, 0-2 SEC) came to town Sunday, the Gamecocks* managed to hold off a pesky Mississippi team also looking to end a 12-match losing streak to Carolina. The first game was one of missed balls and missed opportunities as the Gamecocks failed to keep a point cushion over the Lady Rebels. Ole Miss freshman libero Andie Evans posted her season-high five digs in the game en route to her first double-digit match. After allowing the Rebels to cut the score to 27-25, Hudson called a timeout to rally her players to take the game 30-26. Elena Garcia, Ole Miss senior and outside hitter, passed the 1,000 digs milestone, posting seven digs in game two. The theme for the rest of the night was also established as two of many controversial calls of the night were thrown in favor of each team. The confusion for both teams led to their match-highs in attack percentage as Carolina hit .368 and Ole Miss hit .196. However, neither team could keep an advantage as there were 12 ties and no leads by more than two points until Carolina enjoyed an 8-1 run to conclude the game. The third game proved to be the most exciting as controversy mounted. Every time Carolina pulled ahead on a run, the Rebels responded with their own. Sophomore Alexeis Thomson was brought in to help with the Gamecock defense with the scored tied at 6. Minutes later, the Ole Miss coaches erupted while arguing a call with the line judge, resulting in a warning, and a diminished Rebels spirit. But a questionable call on the placement of Carolina junior Nicole Miller led to a short Gamecock breakdown that allowed the Rebels to come back with the score 1^-13. USC finally pulled away with a run that was topped by a Sarah Morgan kill to secure the sweep. The No. 24 Tennessee Volunteers come to Columbia Wednesday night as Carolina continues its SEC home stand. The Ladv Vols carry an 11-1 record, their be« start since the 1986 season. Confidence will be the key for the Gamecocks as they face their first ranked team of the season. The match will be held at the Volleyball Competition Facility next to the Carolina Coliseum at 7'p.m. Comments on this story? E-mail ga7necockspo1ts@gwm.sc. edu CHARLIE DAVENPORT/THE GAMECOCK Sophomore Katelyn Panzau and junior Nicole Miller watch a teammate go airborne for a kill Friday against Mississippi State. LACROSSE USC men prepare for harder division By DANIEL KERR THE GAMECOCK Last year, the Gamecock men’s club lacrosse team advanced to the final four of the SELC B-division playoffs. The team, however, was unable to make it to its first playoff appearance in over five years because of scheduling conflicts and a shortage of funds. The game was forfeited and so was the team’s chance at a championship for another year. This year the Gamecocks make the move up to the A division to face much stifFer competition, yet the lack of school support remains. USC funding remains minimal, and practice time is limited to four hours a week. Teams in the A division such as Georgia, Georgia Tech, Tennessee and Florida are fully funded by their schools and practice five days a week. The USC team had its practice time bumped earlier this month in favor ♦ Please see LACROSSE, page 10 MANDY TORRES/THE GAMECOCK A player practices his cradle during Sunday's practice. The men’s club lacrosse team will move up this year to the SELC’s A division.