Friday’s match was full of high expectations as South Carolina men's soccer faced Clemson in hopes to claim a home win over the Tigers in the Palmetto Series.
Neither Clemson nor South Carolina found a rhythm right away. It was a defensive fight the entire first half to maintain possession.
The teams remained scoreless and tried to take advantage of opportunities.
However, the Tigers came out with a more aggressive offense, which ultimately led to their first goal scored off a penalty kick early in the second half.
South Carolina continued to battle through Clemson’s back-line, but instead Clemson out-powered their defense. The Tigers made their way past the keeper and put another goal in the net, securing their 2-0 victory.
Head coach Mark Berson was right about one thing: Both teams showed massive effort.
“I think if you look at it we out-shot them on the night,” Berson said. “It was even on corners. I thought that we picked it up a lot in the second part of the first half and then in the second half we started slowly, but then I thought we picked it up as we moved along.”
Even though the Gamecocks fell short in the second half, they had numerous shots on goal.
In addition, senior goalkeeper Ian McGrane led South Carolina in saves early on that carried the momentum forward. Berson was pleased with McGrane's composure throughout the match and the growth he has made.
“The guys played hard," Berson said. "There was nobody out there that wasn’t giving their best and we just need to keep working.”
Despite this loss, the Gamecocks are still trying to define themselves as they continue to develop their young team and capitalize on scoring opportunities.
This is the fifth consecutive win that the Tigers have claimed over the Gamecocks, but Berson believes that there is no definite answer.
South Carolina will to travel to FAU on Friday, Sept. 7 at in hopes to find redemption in the conference opener at 7 p.m.
"I think the main thing tonight was we just have to play a little bit better," Berson said. "We have to make sure that we’re ready to go, and that’s our task getting ready for Friday.”