Each team comes in ranked top 25. Each team is looking to improve their NCAA tournament resume. Each team is trying to start the season 1-0. There will be plenty on the line when South Carolina men's soccer opens with Clemson to kick off the 2016 season.
Friday’s game at Stone Stadium won’t be only another game in the Palmetto State Rivalry. It’s going to be a Palmetto State Battle.
“I had the opportunity many years ago to play in the ACC, and I can tell you that there are not rivalries in the ACC like Clemson and Carolina,” South Carolina head coach Mark Berson said.
With a game of this caliber to begin the season, the atmosphere, from the players to the coaches to the fans, will be both tense and exciting. No. 3 Clemson is ranked 21 spots ahead of South Carolina, has one of the best recruiting classes in the nation and will return Oliver Shannon, who torched the Gamecocks last year with two goals. In an in-state rivalry game, that all takes a backseat though. It doesn’t matter who is ranked what — both teams will play on another level.
“This game has a lot of emotion, and you have to withstand that emotion, you have to be able to ride that emotion,” coach Berson said. “For us, keys will be being defensively sound, take advantage of mistakes they made, and in a big game like this, that is often the case. Both teams kind of play each other to a stand still sometime, and then somebody makes a play.”
Somebody who consistently makes plays for the Gamecocks is senior Koty Millard. As a locally grown player, he’s lived the rivalry and wants to gather another Clemson win under his belt before graduating from the program. He thinks they might actually have some sort of an advantage coming into the game.
“We are playing great soccer when we want to play,” said Millard “We’re going to be looking to make runs in behind because they are pretty susceptible to that apparently. With me and Kev (Walker) and some of the other guys, we’ve got speed up front too. I’m not sure if they will be able to hang with us.”
While South Carolina brings back 17 players from last season, most of them upperclassmen, the difference might come with their freshmen, particularly Luca Mayr. The Austrian native has played well in the preseason, scoring a goal against Winthrop and placing many quality passes.
“He’s a really good player,” coach Berson said. “He’s still a freshman, so this will be his first big home game against a big rival … He’s got good experience. He’s a very talented kid, and I think he’s going to show a lot during the course of this year and the course of his career.”
Playing well in the preseason is one thing, but playing under the Friday night lights against a high-caliber opponent for the first regular season game is a whole different type of challenge. Senior Kevin Walker has some seasoned advice to give to those who haven’t experienced a game as such.
“Basically, it’s going to be a wild atmosphere,” he said. “Just keep calm, especially for the guys coming off the bench. Bring a level up when you come off and know what you’re doing.”
The game is Friday at 7 p.m. at Stone Stadium.