Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Men’s soccer joins Conference USA in 2005 Rlex Riley ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR I The word that might best fit with this season for USC’s men’s soccer season: finally. After 27 years of playing the waiting game, the soccer team finally has a place to call home, as the team is one of the newest members in Conference USA. “What that does for us is it gives us a great RPI, a great set of rivalries to start to get used to,” coach Mark Berson said. “You can get into the NCAA Tournament by winning your conference, or you can get into the NCAA Tournament as an at-large with your strength of schedule, which is the only route we had before. So the good news is we have two routes in the NCAA. Tournament.” Because the SEC „ lacks enough teams to form its own conference, USC has joined with nine other programs to form a 10-school setup, featuring some of the nation’s best soccer programs. Headlining the conference are three of College Soccer News’ top 30 teams. No. 10 Southern Methodist, No. 13 Tulsa and defending C-USA champion No. 27 Memphis are picked to finish in that respective order in the conference, ahead of USC. “Legitimately, eight of the 10 teams are knocking on the door to go into the NCAA Tournament,” Berson said. The rest of the conference finishes out with UAB at fifth, Kentucky at sixth, Florida International at seventh, UCF at eighth, Marshall at ninth and East Carolina at 10th. With the added strength of a conference schedule, USC will be looking for a return trip to the NCAA Tournament. After finishing 12-7-1 last fall, USC lost in the opening round of the NCAAs to in-state rival College of Charleston. Berson, fifth in all-time wins among active coaches and 12th overall with a 368-136-43 record at USC, will have a youthful roster to use in Carolina’s attempt at an 18th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. This year’s team features a young batch of talent with only four seniors on the roster. The coaching staff also presents young leadership, as all three coaches have been with USC less than two years. While youthfulness is a good sign for the future, seniors Josh Alcala, Eric Szeszycki, Ryan Deter and Greg Reece will be the pillars of Gamecock leadership for the season. Alcala was USC’s fifth-leading scorer last fall with 11 points on three goals and five assists. He was also one of only four players to start all 20 matches last season. Szeszycki was one of the Gamecocks’ captains last fall after registering 14 points while starting all 20 matches last season. Deter, who only had seven starts last fall, played in all 20 matches, providing 14 points off the bench with three of the goals being game winners. Reece, another captain, started in all 20 matches for the Gamecocks while scoring three goals last year. While this year’s seniors will be the unquestioned leaders of the team, USC will be without the services of goalkeeper Brad Guzan, who left college early for a chance at a professional career. All four of USC’s goaltenders are sophomores or below, with three being freshmen. “I think this group will be very competitive,” Berson said. “Last year we were a lot younger. Last year we had no seniors on the team. This year we have all those guys back. We are missing a great leader in Brad, but we’ve got a lot of guys back. And I think it’s a wonderful mix. We’ve got some real good guys coming up. We’ve got good leadership all over the field.” That youthfulness will be put to the test tonight as the Gamecocks travel to the Upstate to take on archrival Clemson, in the season opener. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. “I can assure that the game 4 up there this year is going to be close,” Berson said. “It’s going to be a real battle.” Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gum.sc. edu Gameday Katie Kirkland/THE GAMECOCK ESPN analyst Mark May commentates on Thursday’s game with Williams-Brice in the background. I FOOTBALL • CORTIRUEO FROA1IO Moffett was hit under pressure, forcing a bad throw, and another pass was wrapped up for no gain, setting up a third-and-8 situation. That’s when Stanley Doughty sacked Moffett for a 10-yard loss. The Golden Knights punted into the arms of Jonathan Joseph who muffed the ball back into the hands of a UCF player at the 17 yard line, putting the defense back on the field. This time the defense would yield, giving up a 13-yard touchdown pass to Mike Walker, pulling the score to 24-10. UCF had another chance to stay in the game, lining up just past mid-field with a little more than 10 minutes iert in tne game, iviorretr completed a pass on a fourth and-3 to keep the drive alive. Moffett then hit Walker on a leaping grab for a 27-yard gain to the 16. The Golden Knights settled for a 29-yard field goal, pulling the score to 24-13. ' , UCF’s chances kept coming, as Newton fumbled the ensuing kickoff at the 20, giving the Knights another opportunity. The Knights got down to the 1, setting up a fourth-and-1 with 2:09 left. The USC defense did an incredible job to hold tailback Kevin Smith out of the end zone on a leaping try that would ultimately seal the victory. “It was tough out there. Central Florida was pretty good,” Spurrier said. “But were 1-0, and we’re not going to sit around here and cry about it, ‘cause we could have lost the dadgum thing.” Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm. sc. edu NickEsaresfnW. GAMECOCK UCF quarterback Steven Moffett goes under center Thursday night at Williams-Brice Stadium. Dcrcnsc • connnucD froid to starting points of USC’s 35-, 17- and 20-yard lines. “I think our guys did a good job of not getting frustrated, and we kept bringing it,” USC defensive coordinator John Thompson said. “We made some plays.” However, the team gave up only one touchdown, coming a few minutes into the fourth quarter on a Moffett touchdown pass to receiver Mike Walker. After the game, Thompson gave a lot of credit to the Golden Knights. “I think Moffett really played well and threw some good balls,” Thompson said. “He really took advantage of some things we did.” The defensive front for the Gamecocks got some pressure on Moffett, sacking the junior signal caller six times. Junior cornerback Fred Bennett added an interception and Rock Hill native Joseph had another one slip right through his fingertips. Made out to be a strong point of the team by the media and fans, the Gamecock defense knows that they will have to play much better next week in Athens. “If we play the way we played the first half, it shouldn’t be any problem,” Joseph said. “But if we do those things we did in the fourth quarter, it’s gonna be a problem.” USC coach Steve Spurrier wouldn’t overly criticize his team and kept the big picture in mind. “I’m not going to feel too bad,” Spurrier said. “I’m happy to be 1-0 after winning our first game.” Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc. edu MEN’S SOCCER SCHEDULE TODAY SEPT. 6 SEPT. 9 SEPT. 16 SEPT. 18 SEPT. 21 SEPT. 24 OCT. 2 OCT. 7 OCT. 9 OCT. 14 OCT. 16 OCT. 21 OCT. 23 OCT. 28 @ Clemson College of Charleston @ Wake Forest (North Carolina Classic) Penn Loyola Chicago UNC-Wilmington @ Charlotte @ East Carolina @ Memphis @ (JAB Kentucky Marshall @ Florida International @ UCF Tulsa : 7:30 p.m. 7 p.m. 3:30 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 3:30 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 1 p.m. 7 p.m. 2 p.m. 7 p.m. 2 p.m. 8:15 p.m. 2 p.m. 7 p.m. «