After more than three months of inaction, the South Carolina men’s soccer team is set to resume its season and begin conference play this spring. The Gamecocks will kickoff their spring slate with an exhibition match against Lander on Wednesday before taking on North Florida in their spring opener on Sunday.
South Carolina finished the fall portion of its season with a 3-2 record from wins over Georgia Southern, Mercer and Division II opponent Belmont Abbey College.
The Gamecocks were one of a handful of teams that got the opportunity to play in the fall which could potentially put South Carolina at an advantage as it restarts its season, particularly with the squad’s freshmen.
“I feel like for our freshmen, it’s really like they’re starting their sophomore year,” head coach Mark Berson. “They know what we want to do when we play, they know our system, they know what we’re trying to do and now it’s just about execution and they’ve gotten rid of the jitters.”
Freshmen are already making an impact for South Carolina this season, with newcomers such as Christian Kraus and Spencer Mallion already accounting for four points each in the Gamecocks’ first five matches.
The extra matches in the fall also helped South Carolina build a team chemistry that is “a lot higher” than most other teams, according to sophomore forward Brian Banahan, as the team has been together since last June.
“I think it's a great head start just because we’ve been together for so long,” redshirt senior midfielder Kyle Gurrieri said. “I think everyone’s close, everyone knows each other's weaknesses, strengths and everyone’s good to go. I think everyone’s excited and everyone’s looking forward to getting out there together.”
Another thing that sets the 2020-21 season apart from most seasons in college soccer is the schedule structure. The Gamecocks will play one match a week for the most part, but in a typical season, teams would play two or three matches within a week.
Berson says this is “good all the way around for everybody” as this structure enables South Carolina to “stretch it out” and make adjustments the team usually isn’t able to do.
In addition to another five non-conference matches, the Gamecocks will begin a seven-game Conference USA schedule starting with Marshall on March 6. Banahan emphasized the importance of those matches at the end of the season.
“It’s sort of nice that we still have time to develop before then and hopefully we’ll have our strongest squad for those games,” Banahan said. “Just looking forward to those.”
On top of the irregularities the COVID-19 pandemic has caused, Berson will retire at the end of this season after 43 years with South Carolina, which has become a motivation for the Gamecocks to send him out on a high note.
“This year means a lot to all of us just for coach,” Gurrieri said. “We’re hoping to go out there, give it our all and come back with a championship this year and send him out the right way."
Gurrieri said the team thinks "it’s our duty to really give back to him and really go out there this year and win some games.”