Oct. 25, 2007
BATON ROUGE, La. – Danila Monteiro scored with 3:40 remaining in regulation to send the game to overtime as No. 25 South Carolina played No. 20 LSU to a 1-1 draw Thursday night at the LSU Soccer Complex. Carolina (12-4-2, 4-3-2 SEC) extends its unbeaten streak to five games and improves to 6-1-2 all-time against the Tigers (10-2-6, 4-1-4 SEC).
The match was the fifth overtime match of the season for Carolina, all occurring in SEC play. The Gamecocks lost their first three overtime games before tying their last two.
The goal was Monteiro’s seventh of the season and her third for the Gamecocks this year after 80 minutes have been played.
For only the second time this season the Gamecocks gave up a goal in the first half as SEC points leader Rachel Yepez scored from six-yards out at 8:42 to put the Tigers ahead 1-0. The only other time Carolina gave up a first half goal this season was to Tennessee in a 3-2 overtime loss.
As temperatures dropped into the 50s on a windy night at the LSU Soccer Complex, South Carolina found itself in an unusual position on the defensive for the majority of the first half. After Yepez’s goal, the Gamecocks went on the offensive throughout the second half but couldn’t capitalize until Monteiro’s goal. USC finished with an 11-8 shot advantage and registered eight corner kicks to LSU’s two.
“We’ve had a lot of those late goals go against us this season, so it was nice to finally have one go our way,” head coach Shelley Smith said of Monteiro’s score. “They never gave up and kept fighting.”
South Carolina returns to Stone Stadium Sunday for the regular season home finale. The Gamecocks will take on Arkansas in the SEC Game of the Week as Carolina honors its eight seniors. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. and will be broadcast by Fox Sports Net.
