The college soccer season is back and the South Carolina men’s and women’s soccer teams got started with a pair of home games.

The women are off to a 2-0 start and the men are 1-0-1 after drawing in their second contest of the season. Both teams are looking to start the year strong before jumping into very competitive conference play.

South Carolina’s women’s team got things started with a contest against Furman on Aug. 18. The Gamecocks defeated the Paladins 5-1 after freshman Katie Shea Collins scored three goals in her debut game.

Shea scored her first goal 34 seconds into her college career after slipping past the Furman defense. She scored her second goal in the 20th minute and followed that with her final goal in the 29th minute.

Cat Barry added a goal in the first half to put the team up 4-1 going into the break. The team’s final goal came in the 83rd from freshman Kylie Cino.

South Carolina’s men’s team opened its season a few days later with a match against Winthrop. The Gamecocks overwhelmed the Eagles, winning 7-1 behind a barrage of shots towards Winthrop.

The seven goals scored were the most for the team since it discord eight against the Citadel in 1999. The Gamecocks outshot Winthrop 27-9 and 21-2 on goal. Six different players scored.

The two teams’ next outing was part of a double-header with the men starting the day by hosting North Florida and the women hosting the College of Charleston. The men drew with their opponents, while the women defeated the Cougars.

South Carolina’s men jumped out to a 2-0 with goals from Harrison Myring and Sebastian Reventlow-Mourier.

Myring scored in the 16th minute after beating the North Florida defender to the ball and firing a shot from near the top of the box. Reventlow-Mourier scored the game’s second goal in the 55th minute after heading a cross into the back of the net.

“I thought we scored two very good goals on the counter-attack,” head coach Tony Annan said after the match. “I thought we played very good, very forward, very quickly and got them, and we took our chances really well.”

The Gamecocks controlled the pace for most of the game, but near the end, they started to let their foot off the gas. South Carolina was still up 2-0 in the final 10 minutes, but that lead was soon wiped away.

North Florida punched two goals into the net in the 81st and 85th minutes. South Carolina tried to go on the attack one more time but failed to score in the closing minutes, resulting in a draw.

“I think we backed down from the pressure we’d been applying,” Annan said. “Tired legs but no excuses. We gave them two goals that we shouldn’t have given them. Two opportunities that were very preventable.”

The women had another strong outing, beating Charleston 4-1. Unlike game one, which featured a barrage of goals from younger players, this effort was led by experienced veterans.

Fifth-year players Barry and Corinna Zullo scored two goals each to lead the Gamecocks to victory.

Charleston scored the first goal of the game, but from there, it was all South Carolina. Zullo scored the team’s first goal early in the second half to even things up. Barry followed with a goal of her own, sending the ball through the keeper’s legs to go up 2-1.

Zullo scored her next goal in the 64th minute to go up 3-1 before Barry closed the game with a goal in the 83rd minute.

Both the men and women are back in action this week. The women’s team will hit the road for two games. The first will be Aug. 29 against Ohio State, followed by a match against Miami Ohio Sept. 1.

The men will stay in Columbia for their annual rivalry match against Clemson. That game is set for Aug. 30 with a 7 p.m. kickoff time.