New facility boosts soccer programs; Gamecocks host Clemson Friday
Until the sparkling new state-of-the-art $50 million football operations building is completed in 2018, South Carolina should remain, as Will Muschamp prefers to say, “fractured.”
After all, the coaches are based in the Floyd building at the North end zone, the team dresses, lifts and meets in the Williams-Brice locker room and adjacent Crew facility in the south end zone, and all academic matters and meals are handled at the Dodie located in the Athletics Village.
Gamecocks men’s soccer coach Mark Berson no longer has that problem.
Both USC soccer programs received a significant boost with the recent completion of an 11,000-square-foot building next to Stone Stadium housing separate locker rooms, team lounges, study rooms, athletic training rooms with hydrotherapy tubs, a 3,000-square-foot weight room and a video room.
The facility certainly ranks among the finest in the country.
Best part? The world of every Gamecock soccer player, male or female, is now consolidated into a two-block area as the Dodie and Rice Athletic Center are conveniently located across the street.
“It has already had a positive impact on the program,” USC coach Mark Berson told Gamecock Central recently. “We already have some commitments for next year, so it has helped us in recruiting. And it has been a positive for our student-athlete experience. We are fortunate in that everything is together for our guys. It’s a huge enhancement for them.”
Previously, Gamecocks soccer program had to travel to Founders Park and Williams-Brice Stadium to get medical training and conduct weight-lifting. No longer.
“While we’ve always had good facilities, guys got treatments at baseball, dress in our locker room, go to (Williams-Brice) to weight train,” Berson said. “That took time for transportation. Now we have our weight room and training room right there together, and the Dodie is right there. It’s very concise and efficient for the guys to allow them to play their best. It’s ideal.”
Ranked as high as No. 21 in the three major preseason polls, the Gamecocks return 17 letterwinners from last season, including eight starters. The 2016 roster features an intriguing blend of Americans and foreigners, giving the Gamecocks a definite United Nations feel.
Players have journeyed from all over the globe to play for the Gamecocks – Spain, Scotland (2), England (3), Norway (3), Iceland, Austria and Sweden are all represented on the roster.
Senior Danny Deakin from Sheffield, England is on the Herman Watch List, college soccer’s equivalent of the Heisman Trophy. Deakin led the Gamecocks in scoring in 2015 with 11 goals, almost 40 percent of USC’s total of 28 goals in 21 games.
“Danny has a great year last year and he is going to one of the exciting players to watch in college soccer,” said Berson, the winningest active NCAA Division I coach and fifth on the all-time victories list.
New foreigners expected to make major contributions include freshman Luca Mayr (Austria) and Julian Veen Uldal (Norway) and Inaki Aguirre (Spain), whose father was once the Mexican national team coach.
“Luca is going to be a very good attacking player,” Berson said. “Julian has done a great job playing in the midfield. It takes a while to get everybody on the same page and to get every conditioned for this heat, but they have done well.”
Capable goal-scorers include Deakin, sophomore Bjorn Gudjonsson from Iceland, senior Kevin Walker (5 goals in 2015), Mayr and senior Koty Millard (Cardinal Newman High grad).
Deakin and Millard were both named to the Preseason All Conference USA team.
“We have some firepower, we have some guys that can score,” Berson said. “We have a nice group of guys back with some experience. I’m please where we are at this moment.”
Preseason camp was highlighted by a spirited battle between junior William Pyle and senior Marco Velez for the starting goalkeeper job. Velez made seven saves in Sunday night’s 2-0 exhibition loss at College of Charleston.
Pyle started most of last season, posting a 0.96 GAA in 17 appearances. Velez served as the backup, appearing in five games.
“Pyle was our starter last year and did a great job,” Berson said. “There is really no reason for him to be displaced except Marco Velez is right on his heels and has played just as well. We have a tough decision to make going into the season on who will be our starting goalkeeper. They’re both excellent. We have major confidence in both guys. It’s unfair to one guy that the other is starting, that’s how close they are. It’s a wonderful position for us to be in as a team.”
Undefeated at home last season (8-0-2), the Gamecocks look to keep their unbeaten streak at Stone Stadium alive Friday night when they host rival Clemson, the third-ranked team in the country, at 7 p.m. As always, the contest between the bitter Palmetto State rivals should be a raucous affair.
“It’s a great opportunity for both teams,” Berson said. “Clemson comes in very highly ranked. Great team, great year last year. We come in ranked in all three polls, so it will be a big game. It’s early, so the teams are not the same teams that they will be at the end of the season. But we need to play our best Friday night. It’s a big, big game, just as it is every year.”
Since Clemson is highly ranked at the outset of the season, a victory for the Gamecocks would bolster their RPI and could propel them to a magical season after reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament a year ago. It is the first of three straight home games to start the 2016 campaign as the Gamecocks host Mercer Tuesday and Rutgers Sept. 2.
USC has beaten Clemson four straight times at Stone Stadium.
“It’s an important game for the RPI and the NCAA Tournament at the end of the year,” Berson said. “Nationally, it’s going to be one of the marquee matchups. Both teams have an opportunity to line up and see where they are going forward. Playing top teams, you gain in the long run. This game always has a lot of emotion. You have to be able to ride the emotion and let the game settle down.”
