The Gamecock community is used to supporting the school's NCAA Division I athletes. But only some hear about South Carolina’s club sports athletes chasing their own championships.
This past school year, men’s hockey, women’s basketball and women’s soccer all pursued championships in their respective club sports, representing the Gamecocks across the country in the process.
Cock Hockey entered the Division I Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) College Hockey National Championship as the No. 7 seed in Pool B, facing No. 2 seed Niagara, No. 11 seed Fairfield and No. 15 seed Fordham University.
The Gamecocks swept its opponents in pool play to advance to the semifinal against No. 1 seed Tampa, a College Hockey South league rival. During the regular season, the Gamecocks lost and tied to Tampa.
Fourth-year exercise science student Ronan Mulkerrin said the team knew it would take everything to beat the No. 1 seed.
“We were down three one at one point,” Mulkerrin said. “We all went to the locker room the second period, and we just kind of were sitting there and were like, 'Let’s go, we know we can do this.' I mean, we all just were picking each other up.”
The team came back and won, defeating Tampa 6-4 to advance to the final game against No. 6 seed Buffalo. In the final game, South Carolina went up 2-1 after the second period and sealed the title in the third with two more goals to take the national championship.
After taking the title, the team graduated just four members and has no intention of slowing down.
“We’re going to have all our same guys back, all that same chemistry,” Mulkerrin said. “I know everyone’s been putting in the work this offseason, so I think everyone’s just itching to get back on campus and get going. The lowest expectation is another national championship.”
Cock Hockey wasn’t the only team to bring home a national championship, though. The club women’s basketball team went on a 6-0 run in the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) Basketball Championship Series to claim a title of its own.
Although there was no seeding going into the tournament, the Gamecocks received its bid to Nationals by defeating the back-to-back defending national champions Wisconsin in the Durham Regional. Fourth-year psychology student Grace Rothman said it gave the team a lot of confidence.
South Carolina relied on fourth-quarter performances on its run through the tournament, Rothman said. The team's players fed off of each other’s energy to pull together in big moments.
“Each fourth quarter, we pushed harder than the other team on defense and offense, and that fed into the next game coming up,” Rothman said. “Being able to look back and correct what we needed to correct, but also look forwards and be like, we know we can do this. We did the last game. We can do it this game.”
The team knocked off the defending national champions again in the semifinals on its home court to advance to the title game against Grand Canyon University. After a four-quarter battle, the Gamecocks ran away with the title and won 54-45.
“We are a team that is able to compete at a high level and play well and pick up each other when some teammates are not playing their game or utilizing their strengths,” Rothman said. “I can confidently say every person on the team plays not for themselves but for the team. I think that just gives us trust with each other that not a lot of students have.”
While both the men's club hockey and women's club basketball teams brought home trophies, women's club soccer was stopped short of winning one on its historic tournament run.
Club women’s soccer made its way to the NIRSA National Soccer Championships in Round Rock, Texas, for the first time in the club’s history. Fourth-year civil engineering student Katie Davis said nationals were not even on the team’s radar at the beginning of the season, but something that was presented to them at the regional competition.
Winning its regional meant it would earn an automatic bid to nationals. The Gamecocks made it to the regional championship game but ultimately did not pull out the win.
However, it was a bittersweet moment when it was announced that both teams competing in the regional championship would be receiving a bid to play in Texas at nationals.
“The negative emotions about losing that competition are like pushed to the side, and we just we’re all so joyful and happy we could move forwards and go to this huge tournament as a team,” Davis said. “We were also just so proud of each other individually.”
South Carolina was the No. 2 seed in its bracket for pool play. After defeating both Ohio State and Arizona State, it advanced to the championship bracket to face Colorado State.
Although the Gamecocks fell in the opening round of the championship bracket, Davis said that just making the tournament validated the team's hard work throughout the season and proved just how strong they are.
“Playing at that high level was super rewarding for us,” Davis said. “I think it made us a lot closer and a lot stronger as a team because we were able to see that we could eventually reach something that big. It wasn’t a specific goal, but it was definitely like a cherry on top.”
South Carolina's club sports all shared a similar goal after celebrating their accomplishments during the season. Each club hopes its history-making season carries over to the next school year and betters the reputation of its respective programs.
"It definitely validated all of the hard work we had into the season prior definitely made everyone excited for what we could do in the future," said Davis. "We were able to do that without kind of having a template to look forward to from past seasons of us doing that, so really opened our eyes into what our potential could be."