October 17, 2012
MSOC: South Carolina Falls to Wofford 3-2 in Overtime
COLUMBIA, S.C. - The South Carolina men's soccer team (4-8-2) suffered a 3-2 overtime loss to Wofford (9-5-0) on Wednesday night at Stone Stadium in non-conference play.
"This is a very disappointing loss. Once again we had a two-goal lead at home and we're not able to hold it," said South Carolina head coach Mark Berson. "That's very disappointing with a veteran team. We just have to keep working to solve that problem and that's what we have to do before we play Memphis on Saturday."
Freshman Jeffrey Torda led the Gamecocks with four of the team's 16 shots, two of which came on goal. Junior forward Bradlee Baladez registered three shots as well. Goalkeeper Alex Long notched eight saves on the night.
The Terriers tallied 26 shots on the night and were led by Alex Hutchins who scored his two goals on six shots. Carlos Dominguez Gonazlez also notched a goal on six shots in the effort and goalkeeper Andrew Drennan collected four saves.
The Gamecocks struck first in the 44th minute when redshirt-sophomore midfielder Hunter Wyer scored on a header. Wyer was on the receiving end of a long cross from Torda . The goal was Wyer's second goal of the season and Torda's third assist.
Despite facing an early 4-1 shot disadvantage, South Carolina was nearly able to level the opportunities and entered the locker room with eight shots to Wofford's nine.
The Gamecocks would strike quickly in the second half. Torda added to the lead in the 46th minute when he sent a low shot into the far post for a 2-0 lead. Torda's second goal of the season was assisted by freshman defender Trent Rieflin who also notched his first start of the season in the match.
The Terriers, who did not register a corner kick in the first half, had three successive opportunities early in the second half. The second ended in a shot from junior forward Chase West that forced Long to make a diving save to his left.
The third kick in the series resulted in the Terrier's first goal of the match. Senior forward Alex Hutchins closed the gap to 2-1 on a header off of the corner kick by freshman midfielder Nestor Jaramillo in the 52nd minute.
Wofford would level the match when a handball penalty in the box was assessed to South Carolina on the fifth Terrier corner kick of the second half. The penalty resulted in a penalty kick, which Hutchins converted to level the match at 2-2 in the 59th minute.
Regulation ended with the score tied at two.
Wofford's Ellis Vienne nearly ended the match in the 92nd minute after getting a shot off through a gaggle of Gamecocks and Terriers. Long was able to get a hand on the ball that just rolled outside the post.
Dominguez Gonzalez ended the match on Jaramillo's second corner kick assist of the night in the 94th minute. Dominguez Gonzalez found the back of the net on a header for his fourth goal of the season giving the Terriers a 3-2 victory.
South Carolina will return to Conference USA play when they host Memphis for Senior Day on Saturday Oct. 20. Game time is set for at 7 p.m., with live stats and free video available via GamecocksOnline.com.
