Wyer, Arambula score to spark Gamecock offense in 2-1 victory
Men’s soccer coach Mark Berson knew that for his team to keep a 2-0 early second-half lead, it was going to have to weather the storm against a talented Central Florida team. And his team did exactly that, as the Gamecocks achieved their first Conference USA victory by a score of 2-1.
Getting the first conference win was important to Berson, and he showed a lot of pride in his team after the game.
“I give our guys a lot of credit,” he said. “We’ve fought hard all year and had results that didn’t go our way. We have a lot of mental toughness. Once again, we created a lot of good chances, but tonight we didn’t wilt when we missed them.”
The first half was relatively quiet until USC manufactured an overlapping run in the 39th minute started by senior defender Mike Mangotic. As freshman midfielder Jeff Torda sprinted down the left side, he picked out sophomore Hunter Wyer and delivered a cross that Wyer headed into the right side of the net for his first goal of the season.
Wyer was just happy to get a touch on Torda’s cross.
“Honestly, it was not in my mind where I wanted to put the ball, I was more focused on getting on the end of it,” he said.
The Gamecocks had a chance to increase their lead in the 51st minute, when junior forward Bradlee Baladez pushed through the left side of the Knights’ defense on a counterattack. Baladez got past the last defender, put the ball on his left foot and shot it just wide.
A few minutes later he had a chance in the six-yard box off a low cross but shot it right at the goalkeeper. The play was called back due to a handball amid the cluster inside the box.
The second goal for USC finally came in the 58th minute after a chaotic sequence. Baladez’s shot hit the post, then sophomore forward Snoopy Davidson followed it with a shot that was saved by UCF keeper Sebastian Evers, but he could not corral it. The ball spilled out to freshman midfielder Ryan Arambula, who buried it from six yards out into the right side of the net.
The goal helped Arambula shake off a close-range miss against Clemson back on Sept. 18.
“I wasn’t going to miss from the six again like I did in the Clemson game,” Arambula said. “I knew I was going to score. It takes the Clemson miss out of my mind a lot. It was really good to get my first goal.”
Before USC could settle down however, Central Florida’s Andrew Quintana scored in the 61st minute off a shot from a few yards outside the box. The goal illustrated the beginning of a solid 15-minute stretch where UCF created many chances and applied a lot of pressure. The match became more physical, and the Knights’ star forward, Deshorn Brown, grew frustrated with his inability to break free from junior defender Eric Martinez.
Brown had his team’s final chance when he fired a long-range shot in the 86th minute, which USC’s junior goalkeeper Alex Long turned aside.
With the win, the Gamecocks moved to 4-5-2 on the year. After playing well against both Southern Methodist and Florida International but still losing, Berson said he was happy that his players stood their ground in the second half against the Knights.
“I didn’t have any doubts our guys could do that, I’ve just been waiting on them to do that, and tonight they did,” he said. “Today was a scrappy game. We weren’t hitting on all cylinders, but to come away with a win was important.”