TH#%AMECOCK
SPORTS
Wednesday, Sept. 7,2005 ™ ^ ™ Page 13
Women split
2 matchups
in weekend
soccer classic
Michael Aguilar
FOR THE GAMECOCK
USC’s women’s soccer team made a
good showing at the Auburn Reebok
Classic during the long weekend.
On Friday the team improved its
record to 3-0 by beating Rhode Island 2
0, then fell Sunday to Cal State Fullerton
1-0.
The Gamecocks went into the Rhode
Island game with high hopes on a two
game winning streak. Rhode Island came
into the game 0-2 and looked like an easy
win.
The Gamecocks executed well, beat the
Rams 2-0 and reached a previously
unachieved record in USC history.
The 2005 season is the first time a
women’s soccer team has started a season
with three-straight wins.
The Gamecocks jumped out to an
early lead when midfielder Ashley Kirk
scored in the 17th minute off an assist
from midfielder Monica Hogan.
Hogan received a pass deep in Rhode
Island territory from junior Erin Geldhof
and dropped it back to Kirk for the 25
yard score.
Carolina solidified the lead and froze
the scoreboard at the 31:15 mark.
Freshman midfielder Mary Worthen
earned her first career goal thanks to a
great cross from Alex Mouton, making
the score 2-0.
The defense dominated the Rhode
Island offense for the rest of the game and
held the Rams to only seven shots.
Sophomore goalie standout Lindsay
Thorstenson led the way with four saves.
The rest of the defense did its part by
holding on to the two-goal lead.
The next round of the tournament
held a greater challenge for USC, as
opponent Cal State Fullerton came into
womens ii
Katie Kirkland/THE GAMECOCK
Sophomore midfielder Ashley Kirk
dribbles in a game earlier this season.
Special to THE GAMECOCK
USC men’s basketball coach Dave Odom served as coach for one of eight Army camp all-star teams in the Middle East.
Mens basketball coach
returns from ‘truly special’
5-day trip to Kuwait
Todd Green
FOR THE GAMECOCK
When you’re riding a camel in the
Kuwaiti desert, in the middle of the day,
with the temperature reaching upward of
130 degrees, it’s a strange feeling to not
shed a single drop of perspiration. USC’s
men’s basketball coach Dave Odom
recently experienced this sensation after
taking a stroll atop “Simon,” a camel
employed by the U.S. military.
“I came inside and immediately, I
started sweating all over. I thought I was
getting really sick,” Odom said.
Odom is back in South Carolina after
spending five days in Kuwait taking part
in Operation Hardwood, during which he
and seven other members of the college
basketball coaching fraternity coached
and thanked American soldiers.
A soldier told Odom the desert sun
beats down with such ferocity that it
evaporates sweat the second it comes out of
the glands. This makes people feel as if they
are not even sweating, and it can make the
onset of heatstroke almost undetectable.
ESPN camera crews filmed the trip for
a documentary scheduled to air Nov. 19.
Each coach led a team that represented
one of the several military bases
positioned around the tiny middle eastern
country bordering Iraq.
“I thought I knew something about
team building. I know nothing,” Odom
said. “The U.S. military knows how to
build a team.”
Much of the supply line that brings
U.S. troops the weapons, food,
ammunition and equipment needed to
fight the war in Iraq, known as Operation
Enduring Freedom, begins in Kuwait.
Odom’s team was made up of soldiers
from Camp Northstar, the northernmost
outpost in Kuwait, where the battlefield is
only a few short miles away. Camp
Northstar has a large contingent of South
Carolinians, and 10 of the 12 players on
Odom’s team, which finished fourth,
hailed from the Palmetto State.
Odom spent his time talking to
soldiers, passing out Gamecock
memorabilia, signing autographs and
posing for pictures. Two female soldiers
described their typical day to Odom. One
drives a large transport vehicle, while the
other operates the machine gun.
“I asked them how often they get shot
at,” Odom recalled. “They told me,
‘Every time we go out.’”
Odom pointed out that he did not go
to Kuwait to express any political ideology,
but to simply support the troops.
“This is about morale for our troops
that are there.” Odom said, then pausing.
“I didn’t meet one soldier who questions
whether the war is right or wrong.” he
said. “Their attitude is, we’re here, we love
America and we’re going to do what we’re
charged with doing, which is to protect
America.”
Odom, who said the trip has made him
a better person, wants to instill what he
saw in his Gamecock basketball players.
“We’ve got great kids here.” Odom
said. “But they don’t understand how
fortunate they are, and somehow I’ve got
to make them see that.”
Odom helped coach the championship
Special to THE GAMECOCK
Odom salutes in full Army uniform
during his recent trip to Kuwait.
game with coach Tom Izzo’s Camp Arifjan
squad. Seeing the 1,500 troops in the
crowd stand at attention with players and
coaches next to him while Whitney
Houston’s rendition of the “Star Spangled
Banner” played is a moment Odom said
he will remember for the rest of his life.
“It was truly special.” he said. “Outside
of the day I got married, and watching my
two sons being born, I don’t think I’ve had
a more fulfilling week.”
Odom said that besides riding a camel,
he drove an M1 Abrahams tank, and rode
gunner on that same tank, while ESPN
basketball analyst Jay Bilas drove.
“It doesn’t get any better than that,”
Odom said.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocksports@gwm. sc. edu
Mens soccer
misses mark
in close-call
showdowns
- USC cant come through
against rivals Clemson,
College of Charleston
ITIatt llloore and Tom Benning
FOR THE GAMECOCK
USC’s men’s soccer team did not fare
well in its early-season rivalry games
against Clemson and College of
Charleston. Despite providing solid
efforts in both games, the Gamecocks
could not come up with a victory.
“Even with the losses, the main things
we want are in place. That’s the
determination, fighting power and team
chemistry,” said USC coach Mark Berson.
USC played Clemson Friday and College
of Charleston on Tuesday.
College of Charleston 1, USC 0
UiC was looking to avenge its
postseason loss to the Cougars but
ultimately came up short in a 1-0 loss.
The game was a fast-paced battle for most
of the first half, and both teams had great
opportunities to score.
The offense was spurred by junior
forward Mike Sambursky, who provided
the Gamecocks with numerous scoring
opportunities in the first half.
“He has been hurt, so it was good to
get him back in the lineup,” Berson said.
With the exception of a few mistakes,
the defense stood strong against a potent
Cougar offense.
“I thought in the back, our guys did
very well,” Berson said. “I thought
(defenders) Greg Reece and Ryan Leeton
did great.”
After even play for much of the first
half, the scoreless deadlock ended on a
penalty kick by Cougar forward Jeremy
Gold with 13 minutes left in the first
half.
“1 don’t know what you can say,”
Berson said of the handball ruling that
resulted in the kick. “There was a call that
could’ve been called or not called, and it
went the other way. That happens
sometimes.” >
The Gamecock offense stepped up its
intensity in the second half and
controlled the tempo and possession.
With about nine minutes to go in the
second half, the Gamecocks mounted
one final attack against the Cougar
defense.
Within 45 seconds, USC had two
corner- kicks and three shots on goal.
The Gamecocks culminated the burst
with a sensational header attempt by
Josh Acala.
However, Charleston goalie Hunter
Gilstrap made excellent saves on all three
attempts, and the Gamecocks did mount
men •ii
• Ticket prices rise throughout SEC
USC ranks at lower end
of elevated admission rates
among Souths big names
Saui Smith
FOR THE GAMECOCK
Long gone are the days when a father
could drive up to the ball field with his son
and buy two tickets to the game along
with a bucket of popcorn and a soda — all
for less than $20. These days, just hunting
down the ticket itself is practically worth
the life of that fathers first born.
Ticket prices for college football have
begun to skyrocket. It’s not something that
has happened all at once, but is rather a
gradual buildup that has begun to raise
eyebrows. With new USC football coach
Steve Spurrier, every home game is already
sold out for the 2005 season. Getting a
ticket is virtually possible at this point,
unless you go the scalping route.
And it’s not just USC football games
1 V
that have seen increasing ticket prices; the
entire SEC is seeing a rise.But there is
good news.
“Were actually at the low end of ticket
prices,” said Julius Grant, associate athletic
director for ticket prices.
USC groupies have to throw down $25
for a non-conference game, up from $24
for the 2004 season.
Believe it or not, conference game ticket
prices at USC have actually gone, gasp,
down. Last year, a ticket for a conference
game cost $31, and this year it’s down to
$30.
Auburn fans are paying $45 a ticket,
and the University of Georgia charges $30
a ticket and $192 for a season ticket.
Florida charges $28 per game.
Billy Houck, who came to USC for a
year in 1950 after graduating from
Davidson, has held season tickets since the
late 1960s.
“I can’t remember exactly how much we
used to pay for tickets, but I know it’s a lot
more now,” he said.
However, he’s not incensed at the price
increase.
“Ticket prices parallel to the cost of
living, which has gone up, too,” Houck, a
member of the Gamecock Club said. “It’s
different though, because I used to be able
to park right up at the stadium, but now
my parking has moved back into the
fairgrounds.”
David Chard attended law school at
USC and has joined the Gamecock Club
this year so he can be a season ticket
holder.
“I basically just asked what was the least
amount that I could donate in order to get
on the list to get tickets. This year it was
$1,600 that I had to give to get four
tickets, and I ended up with tickets to four
of the seven home games.”
But like Houck, Chard isn’t too upset
about the prices, either, because he says it
could be worse.
“My sister has season tickets to Ohio
State football games, and she has to
contribute $2,500 in order to try to get
tickets.”
How are fans going to react if ticket
TICKETS •iq
www. daily game cock, com
Trisha SWiwff/THE GAMECOCK
USC students get their tickets for last week’s season opener against UCF.
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