South Carolina men’s soccer coach Mark Berson knew the undefeated Furman Paladins were on a roll entering Tuesday’s match at Stone Stadium.
Behind a goal from Luca Mayr, Berson’s squad brought that roll to a halt by handing No. 13 Furman its first loss of the season, 1-0.
"It's a ranked undefeated opponent, that's big," Berson said. "It's a turnaround game for us. We fought really hard these last couple of games and hadn't gotten the results, so I think it speaks to the character of these guys. They never doubted themselves. They've kept working and, you know, that's what it's going to be for us."
Mayr’s goal came in the 50th minute off a crossing assist from the near sideline from Christoffer Wallander Ianev. It was Mayr’s third goal of the season, bringing him to a team-high nine points. He now leads USC in four statistical categories with three goals, nine points, seven games played and three assists.
"That's what we're practicing in training. We try to play simple," Mayr said. "Petter [Soulberg] kept the ball, played it up to Justin [Sukow], Justin played Chris and Chris played a great ball."
Junior defender Andre Streete delivered the first shot of the game in the 11th minute off a free kick from Mayr. But Furman keeper Ben Hale, who has started all seven matches this season, fell on top of the ball in the front corner of the net, recording his 17th save of the season.
Furman didn’t take its first shot until the 35th minute when Laurence Wyke’s laser sailed wide past the net. Connor Hubbard, who leads the Paladins with seven points, kept the pressure on keeper William Pyle, following up Wyke’s shot with a shot of his own in the 36th minute.
The shutout was Pyle’s second of the season after blanking North Florida, 1-0, on Sept. 5. The senior keeper’s two saves came in the last 10 minutes of regulation off two shots from Hubbard.
With 14 of South Carolina's 28 players being newcomers this season, Berson was impressed with how they handled the physical Paladins, who totaled 21 fouls during the match.
"A lot of 'em played significant minutes tonight and did a great job," Berson said of the newcomers. "As the season goes along, they learn. As the season goes along, they get experience. As the season goes along, they're in different game situations and they know how to handle it a little bit better."
With the win, the Gamecocks improved to 4-3 overall, and have won four straight meetings with the Paladins dating back to 2009.
The Gamecocks will seek their first Conference-USA win when they take on New Mexico (4-3-0, 0-1-0 C-USA) at 7 p.m. on Friday in the annual Ovarian Cancer Awareness match. Admission will be $1 for fans who wear teal in support and free pizza will be served for the first 200 students.