COLUMBIA, S.C. - The University of South Carolina men's soccer squad tallied a goal in each half to collect a 2-0 victory over visiting Georgia Southern in both team's opener to the 2020 Fall season.

The game's first chance came in the 14th minute as a foul just outside the box by the Eagles set up a free kick for the Gamecocks. Dylan Bartel's kick to the center of the box was pushed aside by Jose Bomfim, one of two first-half saves for the Eagles goalkeeper.

South Carolina ended the scoreless first half on Logan Frost's one-on-one chance with Bomfim in the 32nd minute, dribbling left past a diving Bomfim and slotting the shot in the empty net for the 1-0 advantage. 

The Gamecocks enjoyed an 8-1 edge in shots at the break.

In the second half, the Eagles came out more fluid offensively and pushed the tempo, but had to settle for long-distance tries from Alhaji Tambadu and Jack Philp to try and score the equalizer.

In the 80th minute, the Gamecocks had a golden opportunity to double the lead, but Christian Krause's shot on the doorstep sailed high. Less than a minute later, the Eagles had their best chance of the match as a through ball by Adam Davie found a streaking Jeremiah Luoma up the right side, but Luoma's shot was saved by Justin Bauer.

Pushing for the equalizer late, South Carolina took advantage of a misplay in the back to cap the scoring as Brian Banahan tallied the goal with just 10 seconds left in the second half. 

"I think, unfortunately with the preseason being extended the way that it was, and not getting a scrimmage or two in where you can tweak some things," Georgia Southern Head Men's Soccer Coach John Murphy said. "Now you're tweaking things on the fly. South Carolina had no problems with that. I thought they came out much brighter than we did. I thought our kids adjusted in the second half and created some chances. It was a 1-0 match in the second half, and they score late.

"One game doesn't make a season," Coach Murphy said. "We're going to dust ourselves off and prepare for a tough game on Tuesday against Mercer. But I think there's a lot of positives to draw from. We don't want to lose to anyone at any time, but at the same time, we have to keep things in perspective. The fact that we played tonight is a very positive thing for our program, our department and our university."

South Carolina finished with a 15-6 edge in shots. The Gamecocks enjoyed a 9-0 edge in corner kicks and were whistled for 10 fouls, compared to 11 fouls whistled against the Eagles. Georgia Southern was offsides three times on the night and South Carolina was offsides twice. 

The Eagles return to action on Tuesday, traveling to Macon, Ga., to take on in-state rival Mercer (0-1) at 7 p.m. in Betts Stadium.