University of South Carolina Libraries
| NICK ESARES/THE GAMECOCK Freshman midfielder Ramon Paracat, right, dribbles the ball against a Duke defender earlier this season. Paracat and USC will play their final home game of the season Sunday when they take on the Florida International Golden Panthers, a future Conference USA foe. Men s soccer to play home hnale By MATTHEW NAGY THE GAMECOCK The USC men’s soccer team will face No. 21 Florida International University in its final regular-season match Sunday at Eugene E. Stone III Stadium. The Gamecocks enter the contest at 11-6-1 and are likely to be selected for the NCAA Tournament. | The Golden Panthers (10-5-0, 4 ’ 0-0 ASC) are riding a three-game shutout streak heading into their weekend contests against Hartwick and USC. F1U has won four games in a row and seven of its last eight games. Led by senior Fernando Plentz and junior Carron Williams, the Golden Panthers are looking for a strong finish in their final season in the Atlantic Soccer Conference. FIU, along with Kentucky and USC, will join Conference USA in the 2005 season. Williams and Plentz have been solid for the Golden Panthers, each scoring six goals coming into this weekend’s games. FIU will also look to junior Lucas Scudeler, who has three goals and a team-leading five assists. Sophomore David Hope will also be in the scoring mix at forward as he is third on the team with five goals this year. FIU will face a USC defense that has been solid all year long. Led by sophomore Makan Hislop and juniors Greg Reece and Eric Szeszycki, the Gamecock defense has been superb for most of the season. Spectacular goalkeeping by sophomore Brad Guzan has allowed the Gamecocks to stay in every game. Guzan has had five shutouts on the season, and the defense has only allowed three goals or more to be scored twice this year. Offensively, the Gamecocks will look to sophomores Ayo Akinsete and Mike Sambursky. The duo has combined for seven goals and seven assists this season. Akinsete, who led the team in scoring a year ago, has continued to play well for Carolina and will look to grab another goal against FIU to tie him for the team lead with freshman Sebastian Lindholm. Lindholm, who has five goals this season, has played strong throughout his first college soccer campaign. The Gamecocks, who were ranked as high as seventh in the nation midway through the season, have struggled to regain their early-season form. Carolina is only 3-5 since the team’s landmark victory against Clemson on Oct. 10. USC’s offense has been shut out in three of those games, but the team still managed to get a big shutout win against Duke during the stretch. With a win, the Gamecocks can position themselves nicely for an NCAA Tournament berth, their fourth in five years. The Gamecocks have beaten three top-20 opponents this season — Portland, Wake Forest and Duke. With a win against FIU, it would be tough for the selection committee to turn down the independent Gamecocks. Carolina would be making its eighth tournament appearance in 10 years, although the Gamecocks have not made it past the second round since reaching the toiirnamenr finals and losing to Virginia for the National Championship in 1993. The Gamecocks have never lost a match against Florida International in their five all-time match-ups. Carolina has won four and tied one. The game is set to begin at 1 p.m. at Stone Stadium. Admission is free for students and faculty members. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc. edu Washington, UNLV await basketball’s young squad By AARON KIDD THE GAMECOCK The Gamecocks open the 2004-05 regular season Sunday against Washington in the first round of the WBCA/BTI Classic at Bank of America Arena in Seattle. Minnesota, a 2003-04 NCAA semifinalist, will join USC, Washington and UNLV in the two-day event. The Gamecocks will not be facing the Golden Gophers on the court, but will take on UNLV Monday at 8 p.m. After an embarrassing record of 1-13 in the SEC and winning only 10 Qut of 28 games overall last year, the Gamecocks must feel relieved to have the slate wiped clean for a fresh start this season. But they’ll have a long way to go in their opener against the Washington Huskies, who dominated in their first exhibition game against Baden Sports, winning 86-49. Four Huskies scored in double digits, including notable junior Kayla Burt, a 5-foot-11-inch guard who scored 13 points in her first game since suffering from cardiac arrest late last year. The Huskies proved to be even more t-lltt-UVt 111 lll^ll SCI.U11U tAlUUlUUU gdllic last Monday versus Vanguard University, slaughtering the 2004 NAIA Tournament quarterfinalists, 83-34. UNLV won’t prove to be a cakewalk for the Gamecocks, either. Picked to finish first this year in the Mountain West Conference and boasting a 26-8 record last season, the Lady Rebels mopped the floor with the West Coast All-Stars during a Nov. 5 exhibition game. Even without golden senior forward Sherry McCracklin, who is on the bench for two months after suffering an ankle injury, UNLV won 93-70. Eighty of those points were scored in the final 30 minutes. Plunging straight into the regular reason against such tough opponents with no exhibition games on the schedule should be an eye-opening experience for a young USC team. USC head coach Susan Walvius begins her seventh season in charge of the Gamecocks. She enjoyed top-20 national finishes at USC in 2001-02 and 2002-03, but injuries and rebuilding caused the team to plummet to the bottom of the SEC. The Gamecocks’ performance against two top-notch teams like Washington and UNLV in the WBCA/BTI Classic should be indicative of what fans can expea in the months ahead. Despite being picked to finish last in the SEC Media Poll and the absence of any seniors on the roster, talent and ability are not lacking on the roster. Five-foot-10-inch Sarah Burgess, a guard from Brook Park, Ohio, and one of only two juniors on the team, racked up 17 points in last year’s season opener against Clemson. The other junior, 6 foot-4-inch Olga Gritsaeva from St. Petersburg, Russia, scored 20 points and 14 rebounds in the same game and conjured up four double-doubles to cap off the year. Iva Sliskovic, a 6-foot-5-inch sophomore from Zagreb, Croatia, led the team last year with 7.1 rebounds per game and 11.0 points per game overall. In the summer, Sliskovic played for Croatia in the FIBA European riiamninnchmc ilr,nI KP teammate Lea Fabbri, a 5-foot-7-inch sophomore guard from New Zagreb, Croatia. Sliskovic managed 18 points and eight rebounds against the tournament’s defending champion, the Czech Republic, and Fabbri dished out an impressive 17 points against France. New blood on the roster includes 6 foot-6-inch freshman center Ilona Burgrova from the Czech Republic. Burgrova played for the Basketball Travelers exhibition team and scored 14 points in a win over Mississippi while she was still a high school sophomore. She also led the Czech Republic team to a third-place finish at the FIBA European Championships this summer where she averaged 10.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. The Gamecocks will look to use team chemistry, learning from past mistakes and new talent to boost to a more respectable ranking this season. Tip-off is at 6 p.m. Eastern time. Comments on this story? E-mail go7necocksports@gwm.sc.edu ■ WHITESIDE Continued from page 8 same this week to gain an advantage in a > hostile environment. ' “When we seem to function the best is when we throw caution to the wind,” Holtz said. “We throw caution to the wind and open the sucker up.” Holtz said that his strategy coming into the season was to rely on defense and a heavy dose of the running game. An injury to Demetris Summers and the emergence of multiple receivers forced Holtz to change his game plan. “When we seem to function the best is when we throw caution to the wind.” LOU HOLTZ USC HEAD COACH “Going into this year, that wasn’t the way we wanted to play (to throw the ball),” Holtz said. “But the development of the receivers has allowed us to change that as we’ve gone along.” BRIEFS Coaches name Guzar as trophy semifinalist The National Soccer Coache Association of America named USC sophomore Brad Guzan as one of 1! )semifinalists for the Missouri Athleti Club Hermann Trophy. The trophy i given to college soccer’s national player o the year. Guzan, a Homer Glen, 111. native, is the only goalkeeper and*one o only two underclassmen named to th< list. “We’re very pleased and proud fo Brad to be nominated for this award ant to be considered in such an elite group o the top talent in the country,” USC heac coach Mark Berson said. “He belongs ir that class as a player and as a person. He i: certainly an excellent representative o our soccer program both on and off th< field.” Since arriving at USC in 2003, Guzan has started every match at goalkeeper. As a team captain this year, he has helped guide the Gamecocks to an 11-6-1 record and five shutouts. Guzan has played 1,640 minutes in goal and has.a- 1.26 goals-against average and 94 saves this > season. Guzan owns a .803 save ! percentage and ranks in the top 20 • nationally in saves per match. Hamilton, Thompson lead golf at tournament The USC men’s golf team finished 13th overall • at the Carpet Capital Collegiate Tournament in Dalton, Ga., on Sunday. The Gamecocks shot a season-low 288 and finished 43-up. Georgia won the tournament, finishing 15-up. Seniors Alex Hamilton (77-72-75) and Jake Thompson (80-72-72) finished the weekend tied for 22nd. Robert Svensson (81-78-69) had his best round of the year, 69, and finished tied for 46th. ^Avw.daily&amecock.com LAn- . _ "BLACK MAGIC/BELIEVE" **-*■ —fm. BOWL. BOUIWD! ies! GOCOCKSI BEAT CLEMSONII Show your team support By wearing a BLACK SILICONE Bracelet! % Buy 10 and get 1 FREE! Buy 20 get 4 FREE! (Online sale only!) Also available at: SC Bookstore, Carolina's Spirit Shop, WG's-Blythewood, Addams Bookstore, Gamecock Stop, Piggly Wiggly-Forest Drive Another factor that might increase the role of Whiteside and other receivers is quarterback Syvelle Newton, who will not be at full strength as he recovers from an ankle injury. Newton, normally dangerous as a runner, will likely stay in the pocket • longer and check down his various receivers. Quarterbacks coach Skip Holtz said Wednesday that Newton had been limping some in practice but should be close to 100 percent Saturday. Comments on this story ? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc. edu If you are interested in writing for Gamecock Spor please e-m< gamecocksports@/25^ gwm.sc.edu ^ GAMECOCK CHALLENGE THE CHALLENGE: Every week, Jonathan Adam David Wes Steven Albert The Gamecock’s readers and Hillyard Beam Stagg Wolfe Van Haren Sadowski staff test their sports knowledge Sports Editor Design Viewpoints Copy Reader of with game predictions. editor in chief director editor editor the week ^ _ (62-34) (63-33) (67-29) (57-39) (69-27) (60-36) 12 FSU at NC StateFSUFSUFSU FSUFSUFSU 21 BC at 10 West Virginia WVU WVU_WVU BC WVU WVU 19 Iowa at MinnesotaIowaUMIowa Iowa Iowa UM 4 Wisconsin at Michigan State MSU_Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin CPAnrwIn itO A,.k,,rn A . . U._ A . . U__ O_I „ A..U._ A . . __ w wi. w » tukyui i i i i i nuuui i i vjoui nuuui i i nui-/ui i i 17 Miami at 11 Virginia Virginia Virginia Miami Virginia Miami Virginia 25 Tex. Tech at 23 Tex. A&M A&M TTU_TTU TTU A&M A&M Alabama at 15 LSU_LSU_Bama_LSU_Bama_LSU_LSU North Carolina at Wake Forest UNC_Wake_Wake Wake Wake Wake USC at Florida USC USC Florida USC USC Florida 28-24 35-31 35-28 9-6 21-7 21-14 WANT TO BE READER OF THE WEEK? E-MAIL SELECTIONS FOR NEXT WEEK’S GAMES TO GAMECOCKSPORTS@GWM.SC.EDU. LAST WEEK’S RESULTS: Section editors Hillyard and Wolfe tied with 7-3 records. Van Haren extended a hair's breadth lead to two games. \ Come join the Office of Community Service Programs in celebrating the life of the late Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by participating in the largest community service event at USC! What? 8th Annual MLK Day of Service When? Monday, January 17, 2005 lime: 9:00 am to 4:00 pm meet in the RHUU How? Registration is November lst-30th in the Office of Community Service Programs located in Russell House Suite 227V, or online at www.sa.sc.edu/ocsp "MAKE IT A DAY ON NOT A DAY OFF!" V > ' • • -1