Men’s soccer triumphant on Senior Day
by Isabelle Khurshudyan
With one of the most storied senior classes being honored, a win over Memphis for the USC men’s soccer was about more than just conference standings and tournament seeds.
It was about sending off the seniors on a high note.
Mark Wiltse, a senior who was granted a medical redshirt last year after missing all of the 2009 season with an injury, made sure to give his fellow seniors the farewell they deserved as he scored the first of three goals in 3-0 rout of Memphis.
“Last year he broke his leg in the first game and came back this year when he graduated so he took graduate courses,” coach Mark Berson said. “What a wonderful thing for him – to dedicate himself that way – and the results for our team are outstanding.”
Wiltse’s goal came in the 39th minute from the far post 10 yards out off an assist from senior Blake Brettschneider and Stephen Morrissey. It was Wiltse’s first goal of the season.
Although the game was dedicated to the senior class, it was also a symbol of the team’s future stars as freshman Chipper Root added the second goal to secure the lead just seven minutes into the second half.
While Root has taken 39 shots this season with twelve being on goal, this was his first goal of the season off a cross from Brettschneider, who collected two assists in the game for a team-high of eight assists.
The Gamecocks put the game away with the third and final goal coming from junior Danny Cates as he found the net on an unassisted goal that hit the crossbar and bounced in from 40 yards out.
Memphis struggled throughout the game as the Gamecocks tallied twice as many shots on goal. Furthermore, senior goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer collected four saves before being taken out of the game in the 72nd minute to a standing ovation. He is second all-time in South Carolina history with 26 shutouts.
With this win, the Gamecocks clinched an improbable berth in the Conference USA tournament, considering the volume of injuries at the start of the season, with Vance Benson, Eric Martinez, and Mike Lindsay out for the season.
“We had in the first three games of the year three season ending injuries,” Berson said. “That was devastating on a number of different levels. Obviously, we lost good players that contributed to our team, but also they’re roommates and it has a resounding effect within the team.”
The Gamecocks wrap up their 2010 regular season with a game at Kentucky on Nov. 7 as USC hopes to ascend to one of the top two seeds in the conference tournament so to earn a first-round bye.
“We have an opportunity to perhaps get the second seed,” Berson said. “That’s something that we want to keep to push for, but it’s also something that we just want to go and play well and get ready to do well in the conference tournament.”
