Gamecocks finish third at Gamecock Classic
Less than a week after playing three games in six days on the road, South Carolina returned home for the Gamecock Classic.
Things didn’t get any easier for the Gamecocks as they battled to two-overtime draws with both South Florida and Dartmouth.
As a result, South Carolina finished third out of four teams at the Gamecock Classic.
Dartmouth and South Florida were co-champions of the tournament.
The Gamecocks and USF both scored goals in the first half Friday night, but that was the end of the scoring for the game and the match ended in a 1-1 draw.
Sophomore midfielder Jeffrey Torda notched his second goal of the season in the fifth minute against the Bulls. However, South Carolina allowed USF to knot the game back up with a goal in the 19th minute.
Head coach Mark Berson said he thought his team played the “most complete game of the year” against South Florida.
“We had a couple of good chances and it was a pretty even game, but I thought we played very well,” Berson said.
Sunday, the Gamecocks attempted to close out the Classic with a win against Dartmouth, but both teams were unable to find the net and the match ended in a scoreless draw.
South Carolina outshot the Big Green 21-11, but Dartmouth goalkeeper James Hickok recorded six saves on the day to keep the Gamecocks off the board.
Despite not scoring, Berson thought his team played well on Sunday.
“I thought they carried the play to Dartmouth all afternoon,” Berson said. “I’m really proud of the effort. Naturally, we’re disappointed not to get a goal but you have to credit Dartmouth. They defended extremely well; they had eight guys back behind the ball all afternoon.”
The Gamecocks controlled the first half with six shots, while limiting Dartmouth to two long shots that were not serious scoring chances.
However, South Carolina threatened early and often against the Big Green.
In the fourth minute, senior midfielder Ryan Arambula sent a corner kick to junior defender Mahamoudou Kaba in the box. Kaba got a head on the ball, but the header missed to the left of the goal.
South Carolina finished the contest with eight corner kicks compared to Dartmouth’s three.
In the 15th minute, junior forward Asa Kryst took hold of a deflection off of another Gamecock corner kick and put a shot on goal. However, Hickok slid to his left to make a save.
Five minutes later, sophomore midfielder Jeffrey Torda chipped the ball into Arambula from the top-left corner of the box to create another good scoring opportunity. However, Arambula’s shot was just high and bounced off of the top of the net. The Myrtle Beach native finished with a game-high six shots.
“It’s very frustrating (not scoring),” Arambula said. “We just have to work on finishing. We have everything we need to score, but it just hasn’t been coming these last few games. But we’ll work on it this week.”
Dartmouth finally got its first and only shot on goal in the 54th minute when Alex Adelabu fired a shot from the left side into Gamecock goalkeeper Marco Velez.
However, it was a straight-on shot and an easy save for Velez.
The Gamecocks recorded 11 shots in the second half, but Hickok had four of his six saves to keep the game scoreless.
Neither team had particularly good scoring opportunities in the two overtime periods, but Berson said the emphasis was on not giving up a late goal.
“I just said, ‘look, don’t give the game away,’” Berson said. “I wanted to make sure we pushed. We were in control of the game.”
Freshman midfielder Kurtis Turner and Velez earned spots on the All-Tournament team, despite the third-place finish.
Berson was particularly proud of Velez, who is filling in for injured goalkeeper Robert Beebe.
The freshman recorded five saves over the weekend and allowed just one goal in 220 minutes of action.
“I thought Marco did very well,” Berson said. “For a freshman, he’s been thrown right into the fire and I think he has done very well. He’s good with his feet and commands the back very well. His selection to the All-Tournament team was well deserved.”