Great atmosphere at Stone Stadium tonight ... Simply, unbelievable! ... There were more than 5,000 fans tonight for the South Carolina/Clemson match and that in itself is a testament to the health of soccer in the Palmetto State.
I've been around USC soccer since 1978 and I've never seen a crowd larger than that one (tonight's was listed as the 10th-largest), but most of the others were with just "The Graveyard" surroundings -- no permanent stands.
Clemson entered tonight's match ranked #5 nationally, while Carolina came in at #24 ... Both teams were shaky defensively as the seven goals indicate, especially in the net where nationally reknowned Phil Marfuggi of Clemson and Mike Gustavson of South Carolina, seemed to be on pins-and-needles all night ... Throw in the make-shift back line of South Carolina's, which featured no Makan Hislop and Mario Burstein, and the night was wild to say the least.
If I was scoring the possession, there is no doubt that the Tigers held a 60-40 advantage through 90 minutes and you have to respect Coach Trevor Adair's team for its resiliency when they avenged 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2 deficits en route to the 4-3 victory ... The final stat sheets labels Clemson with an 8-3 advantage in corner kicks, but it sure seemed like more for the Tigers, who seemingly attacked the Gamecocks in their 1/3 of the field all night ... USC made brilliant use of its opportunities and was aided by a stuck-in-the-mud netminder, Marfuggi -- he was awful ... However, CU was much more physical than USC and really controlled the midfield with Mark Bucholz and Frederico Moojen, while Dane Richards was an absolute beast up top with his speed ... I felt the referee Carlos Hernandez did a really good job of letting the play dictate the game, but his linesmen left him out to dry several times (one in particular when CU's #17 - M. Usry - was seen kicking a downed USC player midway through the second half in the penalty box, totally uncalled for).
No losers tonight except in the win/loss column! ... Great season-opening match that will be interesting to gauge the rest of the regular season from each squad, because there are many mistakes to correct ... But, what a celebration for soccer in South Carolina and kudos to all involved!
P.S. -- USC and Clemson should both compete for their conference titles in 2006 ... These are both top squads nationally and I look for a rematch come the NCAAs in November!
