No. 25 South Carolina Rallies Past Wildcats with a Pair of Late Strikes

Wednesday, October 3

Davidson, N.C.

7:00

Davidson College Athletics

1-8-0

South Carolina

7-3-0

Team	1	2	Final F
South Carolina	0	2	2
Davidson	1	0	1

No. 25 South Carolina Rallies Past Wildcats with a Pair of Late Strikes

10/3/2007 8:59:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Joey Beeler -- Assistant SID

DAVIDSON, N.C. -- After controlling play for the first 79 minutes of action, Davidson gave up a pair of late goals and suffered a 2-1 setback to No. 25 South Carolina in men's soccer action Wednesday evening at Alumni Stadium. The loss was the fifth straight for the Wildcats dropping them to 1-8-0, while USC improves to 7-3-0.

“The good news is we played some very excellent soccer,” said Davidson head coach Matt Spear. “My focus for the team going in was to show better effort, better pride and raise our performance level and we accomplished all that, which is a step forward.”

The Wildcats wasted little time grabbing the early advantage when senior Aaron West found the back of the net 4:11 into the contest for his second goal of the campaign. The game's first strike was set up by Alex Caskey's corner kick that was flicked on by Machel Turner to West, who headed it home from six yards out.

Davidson missed a golden opportunity to grab a 2-0 lead with just 9:13 remaining in the first half when Turner's diving header from point blank range off a West cross missed wide.

Early in the second half, the Wildcats missed a another crucial chance to extend the lead. A corner kick from the right side found Petri Lindberg on the back post. But the sophomore's header from five yards bounced off the inside of the post.

Senior Tom Lavan could not convert two close chances, one in the first half and another in the second half. Both Robby Hoak and Charlie Reiter each missed on free kick offerings 20 yards from goal.

“If we score one of our several second period chances we seize control of the game and have a much better chance at a major victory.”

South Carolina's Tyler Ruthven provided the equalizer in the 79th minute on a header off a David Smith set piece from just outside the 18-yard box.

Just after the Gamecocks tied the contest at a goal each, they grab the lead for good 4:36 later when Jeff Scanella put away Blake Brettschneider's cross from the right side.

“The bad news is we were unable to complete the game. They scrapped and stayed in the match and capitalized on their late chances. We lost a little bit of composure and they stepped up and made some good plays.”

Despite the loss, the Wildcats held a 12-7 advantage in shots. Jimmy Maurer recorded a game-high three saves in net for USC, while Davidson's Robby Goldsberry turned away a pair of his own.

“The other good news is we outplayed a very good team with a strong tradition and is having a great season.”

Davidson will conclude its brief homestand with a 6 p.m. match against No. 22 and SoCon rival Furman Oct. 6. The Gamecocks return to action Sunday in a 1 p.m. kickoff at Florida International in Miami, Fla.