South Carolina's men's soccer team picked up a crucial conference win Saturday afternoon as they defeated the UAB Blazers with a score of 1-0.
The Gamecocks started out slow against UAB as the Blazers dominated the time of possession early in the first half.
“They’re very good.” head coach Mark Berson said. “They’ve got some really talented kids and sometimes good players are going to offset good players.”
South Carolina would then flip the script later on in the half, outshooting UAB 7-3 from the 12th minute to the end of the half.
“Our attacking play was really good,” Berson said. “We took players on effectively, we got good balls and we had a number of good chances that we created and that’s a key thing that we look for, is are we creating good chances to score maybe even if we don’t get the result.”
In the 29th minute, sophomore Petter Soelberg scored a goal assisted by senior centerback Andre Streete to put the Gamecocks up 1-0.
“Petter just found himself open there and it was a great (goal),” Berson said. “The ball came across, something that we work on, he had great composure and finished it beautifully. I was really proud of the way he kept his composure and stuck it away.”
In the second half, both teams' defenses evened up causing the Gamecock and Blazer offenses to be unable to score despite both teams having numerous scoring chances.
“Of course we missed the penalty (attempted by senior midfielder Peyton Ericson), that’s costly,” said Berson. “Obviously, if that goes in it kind of changes the game because now they really have to come after us and maybe it opens them up for more opportunities for us but our guys didn’t let that get them down, sometimes there’s a big drop if you miss a penalty. The guys kept fighting and it was a great overall effort by the whole team.”
This win gives the Gamecocks three points in the C-USA standings as they head into the final two games of the regular season in hopes that they will qualify for the conference tournament.
“This is a big win for us,” said Berson. “It’s our third in a row, I think it’s our third shutout in a row so that’s important. It’s really important in the conference. We need the points in the conference and this was a big three points tonight so I’m really, really proud of our guys.”
The Gamecocks will look to continue their winning streak on Tuesday evening against the Marshall Thundering Herd starting at 5 p.m. at Stone Stadium.