Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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— m mm m mm NICK ESARES/THE GAMECOCK Sophomore forward Ayo Akinsete dribbles past a Gardner-Webb defender in a 3-2 win Sunday. Akinsete leads the Gamecocks in goals leading into their showdown with the rival Clemson Tigers. Gamecocks to battle struggling Tiger team By CHARLIE WALKER THE GAMECOCK The South Carolina men’s soccer team will take a three-game winning streak and a No. 10 national ranking into Sunday’s 2 p.m. contest with the 6-3 Clemson Tigers. South Carolina enters the match with a 7-1-1 record after knocking off Davidson and Gardner-Webb last week. Clemson looks to rebound from a 3-0 drubbing by Hofstra in its last outing. The Tigers, despite losing by a considerable margin, out-shot Hofstra 16-5 but failed to find the net in 90 minutes of action. The Gamecocks almost suffered a tremendous setback in their last outing, beating 2-8 Gardner-Webb by a single goal, after trailing by two at halftime. Clemson head coach Trevor Adair said he was disappointed with his team’s effort against Hofstra, but expects better against the Gamecocks. “I was really disappointed in the team’s performance against Hofstra,” Adair said. “They beat us in every aspect of the match. We got what we deserved. We are missing speed up front. I am disappointed in the leadership, finishing, and defending. Hofstra played with more intensity and they wanted it more than we did.” His team will need more effort and speed up front in order to knock off a Gamecock squad that has only allowed 10 goals this year and has outscored its opponents 19-10. In addition to the success South Carolina has achieved as a team, junior Josh Alcala was named to the College Soccer News’ National Team of the Week after scoring three goals in two games against Davidson and Gardner-Webb. Alcala, a defender, and sophomore forward Ayo Akinsete have played well offensively of late, as Akinsete leads the team in goals with four on the year. Defensively, sophomore goalkeeper Brad Guzan has compiled 47 saves and three shutouts on the year. The Tigers are led by Stephen Rhyne, who has seven goals and three assists on the year, and Justin Moore, who ranks second on the team with two goals and three assists. On defense, Phil Marfuggi handles most of the goalkeeping responsibilities. Marfuggi has allowed 11 goals with 25 saves to his credit. South Carolina will attempt to win its fourth-straight game and improve its record to 5-0 at home this season. USC will look to add to the women’s soccer, volleyball and cross-country victories over the Tigers and bring the overall series score to 4-1. Fans under the age of 13 who wear Garnet and Black to the game will be admitted free, with the first 250 fans receiving a free “Beat Clemson” T shirt. Comments on this story? E-mail ga7necocksports@gwm.sc. edu Volleyball to collide with Mississippi foes By MEGAN GIBSON THE GAMECOCK The USC volleyball team hosted the Mississippi State Bulldogs and the University of Mississippi Rebels two weeks ago. Now it’s the state of Mississippi’s turn to welcome USC, as the Gamecocks take on Ole Miss tonight at 7 p.m. in Oxford and Mississippi State on Sunday in Starkville. Carolina shut out Mississippi in three games (30-26, 30-26, 30-24) when the teams first met, giving the Gamecocks their first SEC victory of the season. Carolina had a .306 kill percentage for the match and held Mississippi to under .200. The Gamecocks also out-blocked the Rebels 9-2. Ole Miss is now 8-7 overall and 1-3 in the SEC. In their first meeting of the season, Carolina fell to Mississippi State in three close games (33-31, 30-27, 30-28) and will look for a different fate Sunday. Carolina lost all three games on unforced errors and had low kill percentages in the first two games (.071, .098). It marked the first win for MSU against the Gamecocks since 1994. The Bulldogs are now 9-7 overall and 2-2 in the SEC. Now as the underdog, the Gamecocks are determined to improve their own SEC record. “We’ve been working hard on defense and speeding up the offense,” USC head coach Kim Hudson said. Last weekend against MSU, outside hitter Rachel Cooper had a career-high 22 kills and is likely to pose a threat this weekend for Carolina. In Columbia, Cooper posted 13 kills against the . Gamecocks. However, Hudson said she believes the Gamecocks can only beat themselves. “I’m more concerned about us,” Hudson I_I CHARLIE DAVENPORT/THE GAMECOCK Sarah Morgan volleys the ball back to the Tennessee side of the net earlier this season. USC will play Ole Miss and Mississippi State. saiu. w t uttu iu pi«ty tumpcuuvci^ <111 u keep our unforced errors down.” Mississippi State and Ole Miss should not expect the same team they played in Columbia two weeks ago. Coach Hudson has made a few changes since Carolina’s last encounter with these two teams. “We’ve made a couple changes in the line-up and at the net,” Hudson said. “We’ve also made an adjustment in our lUClU pUMUUU. The Gamecocks are 8-7 overall and 1 3 in the SEC. Now, rather than fatigue, Hudson said she believes the team is iuffering from frustration. “It’s stressful that we’re not playing as veil as we did two weeks ago,” she said. ‘We’ve had a good week of practice.” Comments on this story? E-mail %a7necocksports@gwm.sc. edit I GAMECOCK CHALLENGE T THE CHALLENGE: Every week, Jonathan The Gamecock’s readers and Hillyard staff test their sports knowledge Sports with game predictions. ^B°13) 5 Texas at 2 OklahomaOklahoma 13 Minnesota at 14 Michigan Michigan 7 California at 1 So. Cal.So. Cal. Alabama at KentuckyAlabama Georgia Tech at Maryland - Maryland 22 Okla. St. at Colorado Colorado 16 Wisconsin at 15 Ohio St. Ohio St. 17 Ten nessee at 3 Georgia Georgia 24 LSU at 12 FloridaFlorida Ole Miss at 25 USC USC 28-7 Adam David Beam Stagg Editor Design in chief director (34-12) (35-11)' Oklahoma Texas Michigan Minnesota So. Cal. So. Cal. Alabama Alabama Maryland Maryland Okla. St. Okla. St. Wisconsin Ohio St. Tenn.Georgia FloridaFlorida use use 21-3 31-10 Wes Steven Wolfe Van Haren Viewpoints Copy editor editor (26-20) (36-10) Oklahoma Oklahoma Michigan Michigan So. Cal. So. Cal. Alabama Alabama Maryland Maryland Okla. St. Okla. St. Wisconsin Ohio St. Georgia Georgia Florida Florida use use 14-0 21-7 Michael Finnegan Reader of the week (32-14) Texas Minnesota California Alabama Maryland Okla. St. Ohio St. Tenn. Florida use 35'3 WANT TO BE READER OF THE WEEK? E-MAIL SELECTIONS FOR NEXT WEEK’S GAMES TO GAMECOCKSPORTS@GWM.SC.EDU. LAST WEEK’S RESULTS: Sports editor Jonathan Hillyard posted the first 10-0 week of the season for only the second time in Gamecock Challenge history. Women ’s soccer looks for success against SEC division opponents By BRIAN SAAL THE GAMECOCK The Gamecock women’s soccer team will look to improve its SEC record this weekend and pick up its first conference victory. Carolina is 0-3-1 against its conference, including a tough 1-0 loss to Auburn to start SEC play. The Gamecocks could get out of the cellar of the SEC East with victories this weekend over Vanderbilt and Kentucky. In order to do so, the Gamecocks will need to get a victory outside state lines, their first of the season. Carolina is 1-4-0 outside Columbia, with the victory coming by way of intra-state rival Furman. The Gamecocks will first travel to Nashville to duel with Vanderbilt on Friday at 8 p.m. The Commodores are tied for second in the SEC east with a 2-1-1 conference record. Vandy had tough games against Auburn and Alabama but pulled away with a tie and a win in overtime, respectively. Vanderbilt is built around a tough goalkeeper with a strong defense. The Commodore offense only averages a hair above a goal a game. The most goals they have scored this season in a single game is four against Drury. Their defense, however, is impeccable. Sophomore goalkeeper Tyler Griffin has a 1.25 goals-against average and saves 80 percent of her shots. Look for Carolina to muster as many shots as it can to attack Griffen early, as the Commodores’ save percentage is five points lower in the first half. The Vandy attack is fairly balanced. It has taken junior midfielder Meghan Habig just two goals to have the most goals on the. team. Also, most of the Commodores’ goals are unassisted. Sophomore forward Lea Lafield grabbed three assists and leads the team. As for Carolina, scoring machine Ashley Williams has six goals on the season and leads her teammates. In a dRse second is Sarah Lentz with four capitalizes, 'fn lead the assist category, sophomore Jessi Swaim claims four along with Ashley Kirk. Senior forward Ashley Williams sets up a kick in a game earlier this season. Williams is one of only three seniors on the USC squad that will try to pick up its first SEC wins. Both freshman goalkeepers are seeing equal amounts of playing time and both have played fairly well. Lindsay Thorstenson has a 2.04 GAA and Laura Armstrong has a stellar 1.63 GAA. After leaving Nashville on Friday night, Carolina heads north to Lexington, Ky. The Wildcats are tied for .second with Vanderbilt after a 2-1-1 start to the SEC season. Kentucky had a six-game unbeaten streak going into last Sunday’s game before being blanked by Auburn 3-0. Before playing Carolina on Sunday, Kentucky will face the Florida Gators on Fifiday night. Kentucky will bring a high scoring offense and a mediocre defense Sunday. In an average game, the Wildcats will score about two goals but allow a goal and a half. Their best player, sophomore forward Elisabeth Jones, already has two goals and six assists. The Wildcats will bring a balanced attack with them as four players on the team have three or more goals. In Friday’s match, scoring early will be crucial, and Carolina could have to rely on its defense to win the second half. The offense will be key Sunday for USC, and the Gamecocks must prove they can score in the SEC to keep up with Kentucky’s potent attack. ---# Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksportMgivm.se. edu ■ OFFENSE Continued from page 9 snaps under center, the coaching staff has also hinted that redshirt freshman Blake Mitchell would see a fair amount of playing time. Holtz also said that the offensive line would feature a few new faces, namely true freshman James Thompson, junior Woody Telfort, redshirt freshman William Brown, junior Freddy Saint-Preux and redshirt junior Fran Person. “They think they can move the ball on anybody,” Holtz said of his second team offensive line. “Those guys think they are good enough to play, so we’ll see. And they’ve practiced well. They practice to play.” Lou Holtz noted that he had a specific rotation by series that not only the offensive line, but also the quarterbacks, would follow as an entire unit. Skip Holtz said the rotation at quarterback would not be as frequent between Newton and Mitchell as it has been recently with Pinkins and Newton. This will not be the first time USC has had to do without major offensive weapons. Both Pinkins and starting running back Demetris Summers have missed significant time due to injury. ^ The makeshift offense will look to ™ capitalize against a struggling Ole Miss defense, which ranks 11 th in the SEC in total defense. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc. edu What TO WATCH MLB Playoffs: New York Yankees at Minnesota Twins, 8 p.m. tonight, ESPN. Crucial game three with the series tied at 1. College football: Texas at Oklahoma, noon Saturday, ABC. 2004 edition of the Red River Shootout between two undefeated teams. College football: Minnesota at Michigan, noon Saturday, ESPN. Surprising Gophers try to dash Michigan’s national title hopes. College football: Tennessee at Georgia Saturday 3:30 p.m. CBS. Big SEC East showdown. NFL: Baltimore Ravens at Washington Redskins, 8:30 p.m. Sunday, ESPN. Series is tied 1-1 in the Beltway Brawl. All games have been played at Washington.