No. 13 Gamecocks Ready to Round Out Regular Season at Florida
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The No. 13 South Carolina women’s soccer team (11-1-5, 5-0-4) wraps up regular season play Thursday, Oct. 26 against Florida (6-5-5, 2-4-3) in Gainesville. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET and will be live on SEC Network+.
Women's Soccer at Florida
LAST TIME OUT
The Gamecocks come off a 4-0 victory over the Georgia Bulldogs this past Sunday in the home finale at Stone Stadium. Offense came early and often as Carolina was able to generate two goals in each half. Sophomore defender Gracie Falla scored her second goal of the season off a set piece corner kick from junior midfielder Megan Spiehs. Eleven minutes later, senior midfielder Brianna Behm found the back of the net off an assist from senior forward Cat Barry putting Carolina up 2-0.
In the 50th minute junior midfielder Lily Render was on the attack and fired a ball which deflected off a Georgia defender into the net stretching the lead to three. Barry added to her productive day in the 73rd minute scoring the fourth Carolina goal off an assist from senior midfielder Rylee Forster. Co-defensive player of the week Heather Hinz was outstanding for Carolina, making three saves in the second half. She secured her 30th career shutout which places her solo third all-time for career shutouts in the Gamecock record books. The Carolina back line was stout all game allowing UGA to generate only three shots on goal the entire match.
SCOUTING THE GATORS
Thursday’s matchup will be the 37th meeting between the Gamecock and Gators with Florida holding a 22-12-2 edge in the series. The two programs last faced off in Sept. of 2022 when No. 22 South Carolina defeated Florida 1-0 in Columbia. Current Gamecocks Cat Barry and Corrina Zullo were key contributors in the victory with Barry scoring the lone goal of the match off a Zullo assist in the 61st minute.
Florida enters Thursday’s game after a 3-3 draw against Vanderbilt Sunday, Oct. 22 in Nashville. The Gators took a 2-1 lead into halftime thanks to goals from freshman Megan Hinnenkamp and junior Madeline Pirrello. Vandy responded in the second half scoring two goals to take a 3-2 lead with just 10 minutes to play before freshman Lena Bailey scored the match’s final goal in the 84th minute knotting the game at three.
Hinnenkamp leads Florida with eight goals and 16 points on the year. Sophomore Lauren McCloskey leads the Gators with four assists and senior keeper Alexa Goldberg leads Florida between the posts starting all 16 games this season.
FAN INFO
Fans are encouraged to keep up with in-game updates on Twitter and Instagram, @GamecockWSoccer.
