The University of South Carolina Aiken men's soccer team finished the 2015 season shy of its goal of reaching the NCAA Tournament for the second time in school history, but the team thrived throughout the season and played some of the best soccer near the end of the season when the team was healthy.
Battling injuries from the outset of the 2015 campaign forced head coach Ike Ofoje to alter his starting line-up for over half the season. However, the squad still competed well in every match and started to put it all together in the second half of the season.
By going 8-5-3, including a 5-3-1 mark against league foes, the Pacers managed to accomplish something that had not been done in the program's history. The team garnered back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in school history, fresh off the 2014 season that saw the squad go 14-6-1 and earn an NCAA Tournament berth. It also marked just the second time in school history the program had been over .500 in back-to-back conference schedules.
After losing their season-opening match, the Pacers bounced back with a victory over Erskine. Newcomer Patrick Widemann notched the first goal of the season for USC Aiken while Jarrel Smalls, who missed last season, fired home the game-winning goal in the 89th minute of action.
The squad tied its home opener against Lenoir-Rhyne as Smalls knotted the contest at 1-1 in the 39th minute of play. In an electric atmosphere at Carson-Newman, Ofoje's team recorded another come-from-behind tie as Nathan Shanko found Andre Simmond for his first points of the season.
Against Shorter, USC Aiken rattled off a season-high five goals off the boot of four different student-athletes. Gabriel Locher recorded a pair of goals while Simmond had four points on a goal and two assists. Shanko garnered a goal and an assist while Smalls blasted home a game-winning tally. Defensively, Andre Bernardini stopped six shots while playing the entire 90 minutes between the pipes.
After losses to Young Harris and Lander, the Pacers got on track, closing out the regular season with a 6-1-1 record. All eight contests were played during the month of October.
For the second consecutive season, Ofoje's squad played Flagler relentlessly for 90 minutes – and for the second straight year, the Pacers recorded the victory. Smalls assisted on a pass to Shanko for the game-winner at the 38:50 mark while Bernardini turned away three shots on goal en route to the win.
USC Aiken stepped out of conference for the final time of the season for a match slated for Mount Olive. Simmond converted a penalty kick for the first goal of the day before Jordan Misiri returned from an injury and dished out an assist on the game-winning goal to Smalls.
In a late-night affair at Montevallo, USC Aiken found itself trailing 1-0 at the break. However, the Pacers battled back to tie the match 19 seconds into the second period when Simmond found the back of the net. USC Aiken controlled the rest of the match, including both overtime sessions. However, the team was unable to slip one past the keeper for the game-winner, resulting in the 1-1 draw.
After a 4-2 loss at Francis Marion that saw the home team reel off three consecutive goals after Dean Smith notched his first career goal, the Pacers got back on track with three of the final four matches slated for Pacer Pit.
With Chase Boulton starting in goal, USC Aiken found itself trailing 1-0 to Clayton State at the 3:57 mark of the first half. Ofoje's team went on the offensive and pushed forward to its offensive third of the pitch. The Pacers knotted the contest just before halftime on a goal by Adria Dalmau and won it on Shanko's goal off a pass from Simmond in the 68th minute.
The victory pushed the Pacers into ninth place in the PBC regular-season standings after the 1-3-1 start.
Three days later, USC Aiken hosted Georgia Southwestern and the Hurricanes gave the Pacers everything they could handle in regulation.
With the score tied at 2-2, Dean Smith found Rodrigo Goncalves for the game-winning goal at the 95:45 mark off a free kick. The win allowed the squad to climb into seventh place in the league standings heading into its final two regular-season matches.
On the road against an always dangerous UNC Pembroke team on the Braves' Senior Day, USC Aiken jumped on top early as Shanko connected with Misiri for what turned out to be the game-winning goal. Simmond added an insurance goal in the 87th minute for the 2-0 victory, securing the No. 5 seed for the upcoming PBC Tournament.
On the Pacers' Senior Day, nine student-athletes were honored at halftime for their hard work and dedication to the program throughout their time at USC Aiken.
At that point, Ofoje's team was up 1-0 but added another goal as Ryan Dwyer took a pass from Locher in the 67th minute for what turned out to be the game-winning goal.
The Pacers added a flurry of goals in the final seven minutes of action as Smalls, Edmund Eastick and Sajih Daychoum found the back of the net for goals on their last home match. Dean Smith was another senior that scored a point off the goal from Smalls.
With the No. 5 seed, USC Aiken had to make the trek back to Florence, S.C., to face Francis Marion for the second time this season and for the second straight PBC Tournament.
Although the Pacers led 1-0 at the break, the Patriots managed to score three goals and end USC Aiken's bid for its second straight appearance in the PBC Tournament Championship. By netting the team's lone goal in the 28th minute, Simmond was named to the all-tournament team.
The PBC recognized Simmond as a Player of the Week earlier this year while Dean Smith and Rodrigo Goncalves each picked up PBC Defender of the Week accolades.
Bernardini, who had a .743 save percentage while playing 1116:47 between the pipes, was voted a first-team all-conference performer. With a team-best 19 points, Simmond jumped into USC Aiken's career top-10 list for points with 42 through his first two seasons while being named a second-team all-league selection.
Dalmau, Goncalves and Shanko were named to the PBC all-academic team.
Despite losing nine seniors to graduation, Ofoje has a solid core returning for the 2016 campaign. If it is anything like the last two seasons, the Pacers will come together and make another run for a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
