The South Carolina Gamecocks men's soccer team represents the University of South Carolina and, as of the 2022 college soccer season, competes in the Sun Belt Conference. The team is coached by Tony Annan, who succeeded Mark Berson as head coach after the 2020 season. Berson had been the Gamecocks' only head coach since the program's inception in 1978 and had participated in 22 NCAA Tournaments, reaching the Quarterfinals on four occasions. Since 1981, South Carolina has played its home games at Stone Stadium, which is affectionately called "The Graveyard" by South Carolina fans due to an adjoining cemetery.

Program history South Carolina first fielded a men's soccer team in 1978 under the direction of former coach Mark Berson. The program wasted little time making a name for itself on the national stage, as it reached the NCAA Quarterfinals in 1985. The 14-year period from 1985 to 1998 was a dominant era for South Carolina, as it posted a 213–61–22 overall record with 12 NCAA Tournament appearances. Of the 12 NCAA Tournament trips during this run, the Gamecocks advanced to the second round or beyond on nine occasions.

Throughout its history, South Carolina has made 22 NCAA Tournaments, with four Quarterfinal appearances, two Semi-final appearances, and a 1993 National Runner-up finish. The 1993 squad won 16 contests before falling to Virginia 2–0 in the National Title game. The Gamecocks' most recent NCAA Tournament appearance came in 2016. Since the SEC does not sponsor NCAA Men's Soccer, South Carolina has participated as an Independent (even in its original years in the Metro Conference), finally joining the Metro for men's soccer in 1993 and 1994, but was forced back to independent status following the 1995 reunification with the Great Midwest Conference to form Conference USA (C-USA) until 2005, when Kentucky left the Mid-American Conference in order to allow the two SEC schools to play in C-USA together. South Carolina and Kentucky continued to play in C-USA through the 2021 season, after which both left to join the revived men's soccer league of the Sun Belt Conference.

In terms of conference championships, South Carolina won the Metro Conference season title in 1993 and the Conference USA tournament in 2005 and 2010, along with its regular season title in 2011.

Head coaches Coaches history + Name Years Seasons Won Lost Tie Pct. Mark Berson 1978–2020 43 511 261 76 .654 Tony Annan 2021–present 5 33 40 13 .458 Total 48 544 301 89 .644

Year-by-year results Season Coach Record Notes Overall Conference 1978 Mark Berson 13–3–1 — 1979 Mark Berson 14–5–0 — NCAA First Round 1980 Mark Berson 12–5–2 — 1981 Mark Berson 16–4–1 — 1982 Mark Berson 12–5–2 — 1983 Mark Berson 8–11–2 — 1984 Mark Berson 14–4–2 — 1985 Mark Berson 20–3–1 — NCAA Quarterfinals 1986 Mark Berson 17–5–0 — NCAA First Round 1987 Mark Berson 16–2–3 — NCAA Second Round 1988 Mark Berson 14–4–4 — NCAA Semi-finals 1989 Mark Berson 17–3–2 — NCAA Quarterfinals 1990 Mark Berson 14–5–2 — NCAA Second Round 1991 Mark Berson 14–5–0 — 1992 Mark Berson 13–5–3 — NCAA First Round Metro Conference 1993 Mark Berson 16–4–4 4–0–1 Metro Champions; NCAA Runners-up 1994 Mark Berson 16–4 4–1–0 NCAA First Round 1995 Mark Berson 16–4–0 — NCAA Second Round 1996 Mark Berson 8–9–2 — 1997 Mark Berson 16–3–1 — NCAA Second Round 1998 Mark Berson 16–5–0 — NCAA Second Round 1999 Mark Berson 10–7–2 — 2000 Mark Berson 12–4–3 — NCAA First Round 2001 Mark Berson 12–5–2 — NCAA Second Round 2002 Mark Berson 11–8–1 — NCAA First Round 2003 Mark Berson 9–7–2 — 2004 Mark Berson 12–7–1 — NCAA First Round Conference USA 2005 Mark Berson 12–7–2 7–1–1 Conference USA Tournament Champions; NCAA First Round 2006 Mark Berson 11–5–1 4–3–1 2007 Mark Berson 11–6–2 4–2–2 2008 Mark Berson 8–6–5 2–2–4 2009 Mark Berson 7–8–3 2–4–2 2010 Mark Berson 13–7–2 4–2–2Conference USA Tournament Champions; NCAA Third Round 2011 Mark Berson 9–7–3 6–1–1Conference USA Regular Season Champions; NCAA First Round 2012 Mark Berson 5–11–2 2–5–1 2013 Mark Berson 7–7–5 4–2–3 2014 Mark Berson 10–10–0 3–5–0 2015 Mark Berson 11–8–2 6–2–0 NCAA Second Round 2016 Mark Berson 11–8–1 5–2–1 NCAA Second Round 2017 Mark Berson 6–9–2 2–4–2 2018 Mark Berson 7–10–0 2–6–0 2019 Mark Berson 7–9–2 2–5–0 2020 Mark Berson 8–7–1 2–4–1 2021 Tony Annan 5–9–2 1–5–2 Sun Belt Conference 2022 Tony Annan 5-8-4 1-4-32023Tony Annan6-9-33-4-22024Tony Annan10-5-25-42025Tony Annan7-9-21-5-22026Tony Annan7-0-01-0-0

Championships Metro Conference: 1993 Conference USA: 2005, 2010, 2011

Records

All-Time career leaders

Scoring

Career Points Rank Player Goals Assists Points Years1 Doug Allison6332158 1984–872 Chris Faklaris5514124 1991–943 Clint Mathis5315 121 1994–974 Clark Brisson362698 1987–905 Dan Ratcliff372094 1983–866 Jordan Quinn3713 87 1999-027 Andrew Coggins331581 1988–918 Brian Winstead331480 1978–799 Billy Baumhoff223478 1991–94 Rob Smith194078 1991–94

Career Goals Rank Player Goals Years1 Doug Allison63 1984–872 Chris Faklaris55 1991–943 Clint Mathis53 1994–974 Dan Ratcliff37 1983–86 Jordan Quinn37 1999-026 Clark Brisson36 1987–907 Andrew Coggins33 1988–91 Brian Winstead33 1978–799 Dave Goodchild28 1992–2004 John Harr28 1997–99

Career Assists Rank Player Assists Years1 Rob Smith40 1991–942 Billy Baumhoff34 1991–943 Doug Allison32 1984–874 Rubén Tufiño30 1989–925 Clark Brisson26 1987–906 Arni Arnthorsson25 1984–877 Grenville Pope23 1985–888 Mike Sambursky22 2003–20069 Dan Ratcliff20 1983–86 John Harr20 1997–99 Scott Cook20 1985–87 Matt Haiduk20 1989–93

Goalkeeping

Career Goals-Against Average Rank Player GAA Years1 Charles Arndt0.70 1985–882 Chris Foley0.72 1986–893 Paul Turin0.86 1978–794 Henry Ring1.03 1997-00 John Mills1.03 1987–90

Career Shutouts Rank Player Shutouts Years1 Charles Arndt29.5 1985–882 Jimmy Maurer28 2007–103 Henry Ring25.5 1997-004 David Turner21.5 1990–935 Glen Thompson21 1980, 82–84

Single season records Points: 53, Clint Mathis-1995 Goals: 25, Clint Mathis-1995 Assists: 16, Rubén Tufiño-1989 GAA: 0.49, Charles Arndt-1987 Shutouts: 13, Warren Lipka – 1985

Notable former players

Current professionals Joshua Alcala – Free Agent Bradlee Baladez – FC Dallas Blake Brettschneider – Rochester Rhinos Brad Guzan – Atlanta United, United States men's national soccer team Tim Hankinson – Head coach of Indy Eleven Makan Hislop – United Petrotrin, Trinidad and Tobago national football team Jimmy Maurer – New York Cosmos Janny Rivera – Atlanta Silverbacks Jack Cummings - Cleveland City Tyler Ruthven – Miami FC Joey Worthen – Head coach of Florida Atlantic Men's Soccer Team Braeden Troyer – Richmond Kickers

Retired professionals Clint Mathis – Los Angeles Galaxy, New York Red Bulls, Hannover 96, Colorado Rapids, Ergotelis, Real Salt Lake; Former member of US National Team Josh Wolff – Sporting Kansas City, 1860 Munich, D.C. United; Former member of US National Team Eric Hawkes – Played 5 Seasons for Maryland Bays in the ASL & APSL National Champions. Doug Allison – Played 5 seasons in the NPSL; Current Furman men's soccer coach Paul Turin – Played for the Tulsa Roughnecks of the NASL Henry Ring – Chicago Fire Clark Brisson – Charleston Battery Rob Smith – Columbus Crew Rubén Tufiño – Played in Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano, most notably with Blooming and Bolivar; earned 35 caps for Bolivian National Team Mike Gosselin – earned one cap for US National Team Billy Clifford – played three seasons for the Jacksonville Cyclones Ray Vigliotti – Played for the Miami Americans of the ASL; played for the New York Arrows, Tampa Bay Rowdies, Baltimore Blast, and Wichita Wings of the Major Indoor Soccer League Richard Wurdack – Played for the Denver Avalanche and Kansas City Comets of the Major Indoor Soccer League Warren Lipka – Played for the Fort Wayne Flames, Indiana Kick, and the Detroit Rockers of the American Indoor Soccer Association Scott Cook – Played for the Maryland Bays of the American Professional Soccer League Charles Arndt – Played for the Maryland Bays of the ASL

In other fields Jim Sonefeld – Went on to become drummer for Hootie & the Blowfish.

Footnotes

References

External links