Sept. 12, 2004
Charlottesville, Va. – Despite two goals from senior forward Ashley Williams, the USC women’s soccer team fell to No. 4 Virginia 5-2 on Sunday afternoon at the Virginia Nike Soccer Classic. South Carolina’s record drops to 4-3 on the year while Virginia improves to 6-0 on the season. The Gamecocks return home on Wednesday night hosting Clemson at 7 p.m. at Stone Stadium.
“Virginia is an excellent team and it was a tough match for us today,” said USC head coach Shelley Smith. “I thought we took advantage of some opportunities and had some success on the offensive side. We gave up some goals that pulled us apart a little bit and maybe weren’t as organized as we wanted to be. They’re very good team though and we just have to bounce back from this weekend and learn from experience.”
For the second straight game, Carolina jumped on top of its opponent with the first goal as Williams found the back of the net for USC at 20:41. On the play, Williams came in on a sharp angle and blasted a shot from 25 yards out to score for her fourth consecutive game.
Virginia would tie the game at 1-1 however before the end of the first half with a penalty kick goal. Gillian Hatch connected on the penalty kick at 35:21 evening the match.
The Lady Cavaliers struck twice in the first 10 minutes of the second half to increase their lead to 3-1 on goals from Shannon Foley and Kelly Hammond. Foley scored on a through ball from Kelly Bunch at 53:19 and Hammond knocked a one-timer in from 10 yards out at 54:55.
Carolina bounced back with Williams’ second goal of the afternoon three minutes after the Virginia goal. Midfielder Jessi Swaim fed Williams, who came in on a breakaway and chipped the shot over Virginia goalkeeper Christina de Vries to cut the deficit to one goal at 57:50. Wililams now has 15 career goals as USC as well as 32 points as she continues to climb up the ladder in the South Carolina record books. She is currently tied for sixth in career goals at USC and is in seventh place on the All-Time Gamecock Scoring List just two points behind Lydia Bienias.
Virginia came away with two more goals though as Lindsay Gusick scoring at 62:62 and Sarah Huffman scoring in the final minute of the match on a breakaway off a 50 yard pass.
Williams, Swaim and USC defender Jackie Welch earned All-Tournament honors for the Gamecocks. Huffman earned Virginia Nike Soccer Classic MVP honors as Virginia finished the tournament in first place with a 2-0 record. Maryland also finished 2-0 after defeating UCLA 2-1 on Sunday afternoon.
Wednesday night’s match for South Carolina vs. Clemson will be Garnet & Black Night. All kids wearing Garnet or Black receive free admission. USC will also host Charlotte on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. as the Gamecocks play their final two non-conference matches before the SEC season begins.
