The South Carolina men’s soccer team suffered a heartbreaking loss to conference foe No. 23 Tulsa on Sunday.
The score was tied 1-1 about to head to the second overtime, but with three seconds remaining, Tulsa junior forward Akeil Barrett scored the winning goal.
The loss drops the Gamecocks’ record to 4-5-2, with a 1-1-0 conference record.
Afterwards, head coach Mark Berson wasn’t particularly pleased with his team’s first-half efforts, but later eased off due to their strong play in the second half.
“The first half, we didn’t play very well. Credit Tulsa, they had a lot to do with that. In the second half, we were able to make adjustments and we came roaring back. We completely dominated the statistics in the second half,” Berson said. “We had a number of very good chances, but we weren’t able to capitalize on them. I was proud of the way we played in the second half.”
After a slow first half in which the Gamecocks were outshot 10–2, junior defender Mahamoudou Kaba scored a header on a corner kick delivered from sophomore midfielder Ryan Arambula. Freshman goalkeeper Marco Velez contributed with six saves.
The Gamecocks were able to outshoot Tulsa in the second half 9-5, which Kaba felt was a positive to take from the game.
“On the bright side, we got a lot of opportunities; we just got to get behind them and finish them, and hopefully we’ll finish them the next game,” Kaba said.
Coach Berson was proud of the opportunities his team got in the second half, but also mentioned that his team needs to play a complete game.
“I thought we really took it to Tulsa in the second half, and I was proud of that, but we need two halves. We need a first half and a second half,” Berson said. “In spit of that, we certainly had opportunities to win the game, but we weren’t able to put it in.”
The game involved a lot of aggressive play from both teams, and at some points seemed to get a little chippy.
“It’s a conference game, so it’s going to be tough and aggressive. They’re a tough team, but so are we,” Kaba said.
Although it was a devastating loss for the Gamecocks, Berson doesn’t think this loss will cripple the rest of their season.
“That’s part of being a competitive athlete at this level — we need to step up and be ready for the next game. That’s just something that comes part in partial to the caliber of guys that we recruit here,” Berson said. “I don’t think there will be any issues with that. They’ll be ready to go.”
Kaba also has confidence that his team will bounce back from this game.
“It’s sports; you win some, you lose some. We’re a good team, we’re going to get good training and bounce back. I know we will,” Kaba said.
The Gamecocks next game is this Sunday on the road against Kentucky.