One goal was all the South Carolina men’s soccer team needed to take care of North Florida at Stone Stadium on Tuesday.
Freshman Justin Sukow scored his second career goal and keeper William Pyle logged four saves, leading the Gamecocks to their first shutout win of the season.
“It feels really good,” Pyle said. “I think that for me personally, I was just holding it over my head, just like, ‘I need a shutout. I need a shutout. I need a shutout.’ That never came so to get this one is good, especially with FAU on Saturday.”
Sukow’s goal came in the 13th minute and was the only shot taken by the Gamecocks in the first half. Fellow freshman Petter Soelberg crossed in the ball to Sukow, who tapped it left of keeper Cormac Begley for an early 1-0 lead.
That advantage held through the rest of the game with Pyle coming up clutch at pivotal times. The Charlotte native made a crucial save in the 35th minute, cross-kicking the ball away on Jamal Manley West’s shot. In the 82nd minute, Pyle made back-to-back saves, blocking the first shot by Adrian Nunez and jumping up to retrieve the second shot by AJ Williams.
“I just saw that he cut in and there was like a low-driving shot to the middle so then I just drove down to my right and tried to flick it away,” Pyle said. “But then I saw they had two guys there. I guess I just punched it out or something. I don’t really know what happened. I just knew it was a scramble and I hit it out.”
As for the second shot, Pyle said, “I tipped it and then I think I jumped up and then somehow punched it away and then we were good to go.”
USC didn’t take its second shot until the 64th minute when midfielder Chandler Corley charged in from the left side as a defender slid in front of him for the team save. The Gamecocks finished with four shots, with three coming over a five-minute span in the second half.
With the win, the Gamecocks improve to 3-1 overall and remain undefeated at Stone Stadium. They will take that streak into the beginning of conference play on Saturday when they host Florida Atlantic University at 7 p.m.
“Conference is conference, so it’s gonna be tough,” goalkeepers coach Tyler Kettering said. “They’ve got to get used to these gritty games, because it’s not going to get any easier in conference.”