The Panthers’ back-to-back goals in the 33rd and 34th minute proved to be the deciding factor on Thursday night as the South Carolina men’s soccer team fell to Georgia State 3-1 at Stone Stadium.
The two crucial goals were scored by Panthers junior midfielder Matthew Fearnley and freshman forward Jeryn Hodge.
“[The goals] were mistakes. They’re a good team and they pounced on a couple of mistakes that we made and that’s the way it goes sometimes,” head coach Mark Berson said postgame. “Two good teams play themselves to a standstill, and then somebody makes a play or somebody makes a mistake, and the other team capitalizes.”
The Gamecocks couldn't rally back from the 2-0 deficit despite a goal in the 68th minute by redshirt senior midfielder Kyle Gurrieri and outshooting the Panthers 7-4 in the second half.
“It was awesome to see his reaction,” sophomore midfielder Logan Hitzeman said regarding Gurrieri’s goal. “He kinda just looked at me after, just shocked, I don’t think he believed it went in without anyone touching it. So, I think it was good for him, maybe, to give him a little bit of confidence going into the next game.”
To intensify the deficit for South Carolina, Panthers freshman midfielder Simon Carlson scored a goal in the 80th minute, securing the win for Georgia State. Additionally, Panthers senior goalkeeper Paul Tyson, who had five saves on the night, prevented the Gamecocks from further scores. Tyson has been ranked as a top-10 goalkeeper this season by TopDrawerSoccer.com.
The Gamecocks also had to face one of the top goal scorers in the nation in Panthers senior forward Aris Briggs. South Carolina held the Sun Belt preseason offensive player of the year to zero goals and zero shots, despite Briggs finishing No. 7 in the nation in goals scored last season.
“He’s a very good player that gave our center backs, in particular, a look and a feel for what college soccer is. You got to remember, both Jake [O’Connor] and Sekou [Soumah] are freshmen, it’s their second match and right away they’re going up against a really good player,” Berson said. “It gives you confidence when you come out of a game and you play well in that regard.”
What’s next?
The Gamecocks will host the Clemson Tigers at Stone Stadium on Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. in the schools’ 22nd meeting. The Tigers finished 18-2-2 last season before losing in the NCAA quarterfinals to Stanford. South Carolina will be looking to get its first win since 2014 over its archrival.
“Clemson’s going to be another tough game,” Gurrieri said. “We just got to pick our heads up and watch the film from this game, pick the moments where we struggled a bit; and, yeah, we just got to stay positive, and it’s one game, and we just move forward.”