pa « GAME SCHEDULE
__® , -,nn/1 VOLLEYBALL at Mississippi, 7 p.m. Friday
Monday, October 4, ZUU4 WOMEN’S SOCCER at Vanderbilt, 8 p.m. Friday
No. 15 Gamecocks rally to beat Bulldogs
NICK ESARES/THE GAMECOCK
Sophomore forward Ayo Akinsete battles a Gardner-Webb defender
during Sunday’s 3-2 come-from-behind victory at the Graveyard.
■ USC scores two
late goals to win
third straight match
By BRIAN DAVIS
THE GAMECOCK
The No. 15 South Carolina men’s
soccer team defeated Gardner-Webb 3-2
Sunday on two late goals by sophomore
defender Josh Alcala.
Alcala tallied the game winner at the
88:57 mark on a give-and-go with
junior forward Ryan Deter.
“Certainly the team had an excellent
effort in the second half. We really took
control. It’s very difficult to come back
from down 2-0/ USC head coach Mark
Berson said.
Gardner-Webb marked the
scoreboard first on a floater shot from 18
yards out by forward Brian Wentzel into
the upper left corner of the goal.
Just over three minutes later* the
Bulldogs took a commanding lead into
halftime on an unassisted goal by
Darnell Carroll into the lower right
hand corner of the goal.
At halftime, the Gamecocks were
leading in shots 9-3, but simply had not
been able to capitalize as well as the
Bulldogs.
At the start of the second half,
however, the Gamecocks looked
determined and were attacking
relentlessly as they took 10 shots in the
first 15 minutes of play.
Finally, in the 72nd minute, Alcala
was penetrating into the box and was
fouled, allowing junior midfielder Eric
Szeszycki to tally his second goal of the
season.
Down 2-1, the Gamecocks
continued to fight, accumulating 34
shots in the second half, 14 of which
were on goal.
Continuing the pressure, the
Gamecocks tied the game at 2-2 in the
88th minute of play. Szeszycki struck
the ball from 18 yards out, and as
Bulldog goalkeeper Tyler Kettering
batted it down, it went out of his grasp
and Alcala stepped up and drilled it
into the back of the net from 6 yards
out.
With the fans at Eugene E. Stone III
Stadium reinvigorated and the score
tied with just over a minute remaining,
the Gamecocks were out to win, not
tie.
After some efficient passing, Deter
broke free and Alcala fed the ball to
him. As Deter approached the goal, he
returned it to the red hot Alcala, who
slipped it to the right of a diving
Gardner-Webb keeper to seal the
victory.
“This was a tale of two halves for
[Alcala]. First half he was struggling,
and in the second, he turned his game
up a lot, we need him every game. He
really delivered this afternoon,” Berson
said.
The South Carolina defense,
headed by sophomore Makan Hislop,
junior Greg Reece, sophomore
Stephen Sprague and Alcala held the
Bulldogs to six shots in the game, and
none on goal for the entire second
half.
With the win, the Gamecocks
advance to 7-1-1 with their only
blemishes of the season being a loss to
the Penn Quakers and a tie against the
Princeton Tigers. USC will face
“Certainly the team
had an excellent effort
in the second half. We
really took control.
It’s very difficult to
come back from down
2-0.”
MARK BERSON
use HEAD SOCCER COACH
Clemson on Sunday at 2 p.m. at Stone
Stadium. Regarding the importance of a
win heading into the annual showdown
against the Gamecock’s biggest rival, the
Clemson Tigers, Berson spoke of the
simple value of winning.
“Well, it’s very important no matter
when it is in the schedule. Clearly at
home it’s important to get this win.
Going into the Clemson game, it’s nice
to have the momentum but also have a
little humility,” Berson said.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecockspo?t5@giV7n.sc. edu
Carolina ties Georgia,
falters to Tennessee
By STEPHANIE PENDRYS
THE GAMECOCK
The South Carolina women’s soccer
team spent the first weekend of October
playing a pair of conference home
matches at the Graveyard. The results
were less than desired for USC, who tied
Georgia 1-1 and lost to .Tennessee 3-1.
The Gamecocks matched up against
the Georgia Bulldogs on Friday night,
and both teams were looking to earn
their first SEC victory. After a scoreless
opening period, Georgia struck first in
the second half thanks in part to a South
Carolina penalty. Senior Elizabeth
Metherell connected on a direct kick
beyond the 18-yard line at the 54:17 to
give Georgia a one-goal lead. Minutes
later, South Carolina defender Sarah
Lentz was knocked to the ground as she
crossed the ball, and the Gamecocks
were awarded a penalty kick. Junior
USC defender Jackie Welch took the
kick and tied the game at 1-1 with a
well-timed shot to the left corner post.
The score remained unchanged for
the duration of regulation and two 10
minute overtime periods. The
Gamecocks did not register a shot during
the two extra frames, while Georgia fired
seven but was unable to convert. Georgia
finished the game with a 15-12 shot
advantage, and South Carolina tallied
seven corner kicks to the Bulldogs’ six.
Georgia left the game with a 2-5-3
overall record and 0-2-1 in league play,
while USC stood at 6-5-1 with a 0-2-1
SEC mark identical to the Bulldogs.
The Sunday afternoon match pitted
The USC women’s
soccer team, still in
search of its first SEC
win, hits the road for
its next two
conference matches.
the Gamecocks, still hungry for their
first SEC victory, against the Tennessee
Volunteers, defending SEC champion
and No. 19 in the country. The contest
was played against a brightly colored
backdrop created by the various soccer
jerseys worn by the dozens of Lexington
county youth soccer players in
attendance. Sunday’s game was free to
children 13 and under, and the kids and
other spectators took advantage of the
balmy early autumn weather at kickoff.
The early domination by the
Volunteers set a fast tempo for the game
— seemingly quicker than the
Gamecocks were used to playing — and
resulted in several wayward passes and
lost balls on the part of the USC players.
A crisp header by USC defender Sarah
Lentz woke up the Gamecock offense,
which followed up Lentz’s sound play
with tighdy woven passes among the
forwards and midfielders. Intensive and
conscientious play by Ashley Kirk
created a number of offensive
opportunities for the Gamecocks, but
many of these were dissolved by the swift
footwork and thunderous clears by
Tennessee defender and fellow freshman
Erica Griffin. Tennessee got on the
scoreboard first with a goal by
sophomore midfielder Ali Christoph.
The shot was a line drive taken outside
the 18 and appeared to move in slow
motion, much to the dismay of
Gamecock fans, who responded with a
collective gasp as the ball sailed above
and out of the reach of USC goali^
Lindsay Thorstenson.
The sun vanished at the start of the
second half and clouds covered the skies;
the imminent thunderstorm was
appropriate considering the shots that
rained down on USC goalkeeper
Thorstenson from the Tennessee
offense. The Gamecocks fell into an
ineffective and sluggish routine of
spending more time settling airborne
passes or kicking the ball away from the
charging Tennessee offense than they
did creating goal-scoring opportunities.
The Volunteers took advantage of the
Gamecocks’ lack of control and scored
two more goals in the early part of the
second half and two minutes within one
another. In heavy traffic, Sue Flamini
launched a shot that the statuesque USC
defense watched land in the back of the
net, which put Tennessee on top by two
at 51:19. Kristin McGrath extended the
lead to three goals at 53:14 by flicking a
corner kick by Genna Gorman between
the posts.
South Carolina showed a flash of its
grit and potential midway through the
second half and strung together several
goal-scoring chances in a span of 15
minutes, with their first goal coming at
66:47. USC sophomore Jessi Swaim
♦ Please see SOCCER, page 10
KATIE KIRKLAND/THE GAMECOCK
Freshman midfielder Annie Galloway, left, dribbles downfield in a game against Charlotte earlier this
season.- The Gamecocks tied Georgia on Friday and lost to Tennessee 3-1 Sunday at Stone Stadium.
I ‘ ' 1
Few things more unfulfilling than The Wave
■ The one thing to sway your eyes
from the game since cheerleaders
In high school, we had a dress code. The rule
generally went something like this: If the girl could put
her arms straight down by her sides and still touch
cloth, whatever garment she was
wearing was permissible. (My
hot-leg white tennis shorts wen
always allowed, although no
because they weren’t too short
but because my legs were so pah
the teachers couldn’t tell th<
difference between my blindingly
bleached skin and th<
ridiculously hot shorts I wa
wearing.)
Regardless, other than choser
dress, only one other clothing iten
was an exception to the rule and i
related specifically to a specifii
group: cheerleaders. Never in my
life have I seen such short skirts—
literally, their backsides woulc
fiimhl#* r»nr r\f rUoir- .
colored bloomers.
All this to say: Guys couldn’t keep their eyes off
them. It’s like watching dogs sprint to a treat. It was
probably the most brilliant thing anyone ever got away
with—somehow, in one of the most conservative
societies in the world, girls are allowed to wear skirts
SHORTER THAN their junk in their trunk.
Fast forward to Carolina football. Directly in front
of the student section, the cheerleaders reign over
every guy in the audience. As if being their in their
brilliantly designed uniforms wasn’t enough, the
d^des sky rocket them to^a platform of Greek gc^l
proportions.
But still, something’s wrong.
DAVID
STAGG
FOURTH-YEAR
MEDIA ARTS
STUDENT
I The Wave in
all its glory.
You’re
watching the
game, life is
going on as
usual and
then it starts.
And it keeps
going. And
next thing
you know,
the world
has faded
away, and
it’s just you
and The
Wave.
DAVID
STAGG/THE
You know what I’m talking about. Occasionally,
one of the girls would get flung into your personal
viewing frame and your mouth would drop—not
because of their unis—but because they’re doing
some ridiculous trick like a 360-degree triple salcow
open air split back flip kick ma-bobber thingie that
you only tried once when you were dared to for free
drinks the rest of the night even though you were
already drunk. «
And if cheerleaders can’t sway your view from the
football game, what on earth can?
I’ll tell you what, and it’s not what you’d expect,
except that you’ve already read the headline to this
column and now the brilliant point I’m about to
make will be very undeverly anticli^iactic: The
Wave. That damned Wave. The process is long and
arduous, but once it starts, it’s a train wreck. You
don’t want to see it. You don’t want to admit it’s
going around—but you can’t look away. You know
the scene: At first, you hear some random drunk dude
behind you start yelling...
DUDE: C’MON GUYS! LETS DO THE WAVE!
YOU in thought-. (Oh man, this is real awkward.)
DUDE: SERIOUSLY! THIS’LL BE GREAT!
C’MON! ONE! TWO! THREE! GOOOOO!
(No one moves. That drunk dude does, but almost
tumbles over upon standing up.)
YOU: (Please let it end. Dear Lord, please let this
end.)
DUDE: HAHA! THAT WAS SOOO SWEET!
LET’S DO IT AGAIN!
And this continues on randomly until &pery single
♦ Please see THE WAVE, page 10
Volleyball falls to UK
in season’s fifth loss
■ Solid effort by
young Gamecocks
fails to seal victory
By MIQUELJACOBS
THE GAMECOCK
It was a disappointing night for the
USC volleyball team as the Gamecocks
were unable to pull out a win against
Kentucky despite their inspired play.
The result was a heartbreaking 3-2
decision that dropped the Gamecocks
to 8-5,1-3 in the SEC.
Iris Santos and Crystal Johnson,
normally supporting players in USC’s
system, both posted career nights in the
closest match of the season for the
Gamecocks. Santos, a sophomore setter,
posted her career high in assists with 25
to go along with her season highs in kills
(9), digs (13), and blocks (3). Likewise, .
Johnson, a freshman middle blocker,
was named game MVP and posted her
career-high in kills (5) as well as her first
collegiate block as she saw her most
extensive action of the season. Juniors
Nicole Miller and Sarah Morgan were
not to be left out as Miller’s eight blocks
also set a career-best to go with
Morgan’s fourth double-double of the
season (17 kills, 15 digs).
The Wildcats seemed comfortable in
game one as they enjoyed a tvfo-point
lead for a majority of the evenly matched
game. Carolina eventually gave Kentucky
a scare-after a Santos kill cut the score to
28-29; however, the Wildcats were able
to claim the first game 28-30.
The second and third games
allowed USC head coach Kim Hudson
to experiment with her team as she
played Santos, Johnson and freshman
Andie Evans in extended minutes. The
change-up provided a spark as
Carolina was able to cruise to victory in
game two with a score of 30-24.
Following the break, the Gamecocks
soon regained control as one ofShonda
Cole’s 16 kills gave Carolina a
permanent lead en route to its second
win of the night (30-25). The Wildcats
were outmatched in the third game as
they hit .075 percent for the match
compared to Carolina’s .318.
In an effort to even the match at
two apiece, Kentucky again relied on a
strong performance from junior
Danielle Wallace to keep them within
two points. After Kentucky claimed the
lead 19-22, Carolina went to a smaller
line-up to help with defense. This made
no difference, however, as the Wildcats
were able to hold ..off the Gamecocks
28-30 to force a decisive final game.
The fifth game began going
Carolina’s way as the Gamecocks
enjoyed a two-point cushion going to
♦ Please see VOLLEY page 10 *