Hinz Named SEC Defensive Player of the Week
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina women’s soccer sophomore Heather Hinz was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week, the first of the sophomore’s career, the conference office announced on Monday. The honor is the fifth straight week the Gamecocks have earned a weekly honor from the SEC.
“Heather has been playing very well and happy for her to be honored this week,” South Carolina head coach Shelley Smith said. “She has been growing as a player every game as she gains more experience through this conference season. The players in front of her have done a great job to limit out opponent’s scoring chances, but she has come up with some great saves when called upon. The penalty save was a great example of that this past weekend.”
The sophomore from Laytonsville, Md., recorded a four-save shutout in the 2-0 win over Mississippi State, the second shutout of her career. She made clutch saves for the Gamecocks in the 71st minute, stopping a penalty kick and then made a second save in the sequence when a shot came off the rebound to keep the Gamecocks on top 1-0. The penalty kick save came off the foot of Mississippi State’s Niah Johnson, who had previously been a perfect 5-for-5 in her career, a Mississippi State record.
Hinz is the second Gamecock to earn the SEC Defensive Player of the Week honor this season, following up Sutton Jones’ honor last week. Hinz is now tied for the SEC lead with two clean sheets this season and is second in the SEC with a goals against average of 0.78. Hinz is the first Gamecock goalkeeper to earn an SEC weekly honor since Mikayla Krzeczowski in 2018.
The fifth-consecutive weekly SEC honor marks the first time any SEC team has won a weekly conference honor five straight weeks (since 2005 when the SEC started Freshman of the Week honors).
South Carolina (6-1-0, 6-1-0 SEC) controls its own destiny heading into the final match of the season on Nov. 6 when the Gamecocks head to Knoxville to take on Tennessee (3-3-1, 3-3-1 SEC). The match is set for 6 p.m. ET on SEC Network +.
For more information on the Gamecocks, continue to check back with GamecocksOnline.com. Subscribe to South Carolina on Stanza to get schedule updates directly in your calendars. Keep up with Carolina women’s soccer on Twitter and Instagram (@GamecockWSoccer) and on Facebook, so you do not miss any content during the 2020 season.
The South Carolina Athletics Department announced ticketing information for the approximately 675 seats available for the four 2020 fall home matches. Only fans who had purchased season tickets for the upcoming season will have the ability to purchase single-game tickets. Season tickets, including the tickets with scarf option, for the 2020 season will not be honored and will be refunded.
A fixed amount of student tickets will be available for each match. Students will receive additional information on instructions for receiving tickets to home matches from the Department of Student Life. If you have any questions about ticketing for soccer this fall, please reach out to the Gamecock Ticket Office at 803-777-4274.
