COLUMBIA, S.C. – The 13th ranked South Carolina men’s soccer team takes on its third straight top-25 opponent Monday (Sept. 7), when the Gamecocks host No. 14 High Point at 7 p.m.

This is the fourth time in program history where Carolina and its opponent are ranked sequentially in the coaches poll. Most recently, the Gamecocks were No. 18 and Michigan was 19th in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament (L, 3-1). The No. 15 Gamecocks took on No. 14 UConn in 2007 (L, 3-0) and in 2001 No. 17 South Carolina faced No. 16 Furman (W, 3-2, 2OT).

#13 South Carolina Gamecocks 4-0, 0-0 Sun Belt
Coach: Tony Annan | 6th Season – 37-40-13
Goals Leader: 3 | Three players tied
Assists Leader: 4 | Mika Habel
Points Leader: 8 | Alejandro Velazquez-Lopez and Angel Lopez
Shots Leader: 9 | Loïc Sany Kong and Alejandro Velazquez-Lopez
Saves Leader: 10 | Noah Scheidweiler

#14 High Point Panthers 2-1-1, 0-0 Big South
Coach: Zach Haines | 8th Season
Series History: South Carolina leads 3-0
Trend: South Carolina won 3
Last Meeting: South Carolina 3, High Point 1 | Sept. 28, 2016 | Columbia
Carolina Win Streak: 3, 2011-present
High Point  Win Streak: None

TAKING THE PITCH

This will be the 4th meeting all-time between the Gamecocks and Panthers.
This is the first meeting between to the programs since 2016.
All three previous matches were played in Columbia.
The Gamecocks earned a 2-1 win in their first meeting on Sept. 18, 2011.
The highest scoring match of the series came in 2013, where Carolina won 5-2.
All-time, the Gamecocks have out-scored the Panthers 10-4.

QUICK NOTES

This is the 49th season of South Carolina men’s soccer.
Carolina’s home opener saw 5,489 fans pack Stone Stadium, the 10th largest crowd in program history.
The Gamecocks topped that with the largest attended match in program history August 28 against Clemson, 7,671, smashing the previous mark of 6,892.
South Carolina enters the week No. 13 in the United Soccer Coaches poll, No. 5 by Top Drawer Soccer, and No. 20 by College Soccer News.
It’s the first time the Gamecocks are ranked in the coaches poll since Oct. 25, 2016, when they were No. 25.
The No. 13 coaches poll ranking is their highest since finishing the 2010 season at No. 10.

It’s their highest in-season coaches poll ranking since being No. 11 on Oct. 10, 2006.

Yvan Malarte scored 1:05 into the match Thursday, the fastest Carolina goal since at least 2005.
The Gamecocks are 4-0 for the first time since 2004 with the win at #25 Charlotte.

Carolina began the 2003 season 7-0.

The back-to-back victories over ranked opponents is the first for Carolina since defeating No. 13 Old Dominion and No. 11 Coastal Carolina in 2015.
The Gamecocks improved to 3-0 on the season with the win over #16 Clemson, marking their first 3-0 start since 2014.

It was their first win over the Tigers also since 2014.

Through four matches, the Gamecocks rank 10th in the nation in goal differential (9).

As a team, they also rank sixth in total assists and assists per game, eighth in total points and points per game, and 13th in scoring offense and total goals.
Mika Habel ranks fourth in total assists (4) and assists per game.
Angel Lopez and Alejandro Velazquez-Lopez are tied for 22nd in total points (8).
Alejandro Velazquez-Lopez is tied for third in game-winning goals (2).

Loïc Sany Kong was named the Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in the win over North Florida.
Carolina was picked to finish sixth in the conference by the coaches.
South Carolina is in its fifth season in the Sun Belt Conference.
Carolina led the nation in attendance in 2025 for the fourth straight season (3,792).
They are the first program to lead the NCAA in attendance four straight seasons since UC Santa Barbara led nine straight years (2007-2015).
The Gamecocks have an all-time record of 546-301-89.