Gamecocks Begin SEC Season with Top-15 Showdown in Knoxville
#15 Women’s Soccer at #11 Tennessee
COLUMBIA, S.C. — No. 15 South Carolina takes on Tennessee this Sunday in Knoxville in a top-15 showdown to begin the SEC season. The Gamecocks are currently on a three-match winning streak and have not lost an SEC game in over two years.
LAST TIME OUT – WAKE FOREST/COASTAL CAROLINA
South Carolina concluded its non-conference season with a 6-1-0 record, which marks the sixth-straight season the Gamecocks have won at least six non-conference matches.
Carolina started last week off by taking down Wake Forest 2-0 in a match between two 2017 NCAA Tournament teams. Goals in the victory came from freshman Jyllissa Harris and junior Elexa Bahr. The goal for Harris went down as her first career game-winning goal. She also notched the first assist of her career later in the match when Bahr found the back of the net via a header off a corner kick.
The offense came to play on Sunday when the Gamecocks took on Coastal Carolina. The Garnet and Black put up a season-high three goals in the shutout win. Goals from Ryan Gareis, Lauren Chang and Harris and the fifth shutout of the season capped off another successful home non-conference win.
“It really is a special place here [Stone Stadium],” Smith said. “It is always motivating for these players to play in front of our home crowd. We have a big crowd, and they are so supportive. It is easy to get up and get through 90 minutes when you have the fans behind you. We are so thankful for them, but now we have to continue to do the work on the road.”
SCOUTING TENNESSEE
The Volunteers enter Sunday’s matchup with a 6-0-1 record. Tennessee allowed just one goal during the non-conference season, which is the fewest by any team in the SEC.
Tennessee and South Carolina have shared one opponent during the 2018 season. Tennessee ended in a 1-1 tie with Wake Forest back on Aug. 23 in Winston-Salem. The Gamecocks defeated the Demon Deacons 2-0 just last week.
Amy Thompson, a freshman, has led the Volunteer offense this season. All three of her goals have won matches for Tennessee. Five other Vols have scored multiple goals this season, with Danielle Marcano and Salera Jordan each with a team-high 17 shots this season.
Shae Yanez has started all seven matches in goal for Tennessee. She has allowed just one goal and has made 13 saves this season. The senior is experienced, starting over 30 matches for Tennessee, including all 21 matches last season when the Volunteers made an NCAA Tournament appearance for the first time in five years.
MAKING ADJUSTMENTS
Thus far this season, eight of South Carolina’s 12 goals have come in the second half. On top of that, the Gamecock defense has been stellar in the first half, allowing zero goals. South Carolina has been able to keep the opportunities fairly similar between the two halves of play with 40 in the first half and 51 in the second half.
GROWING UP BEFORE OUR VERY EYES
This season, five of the six game-winning goals have come from underclassmen. The Gamecocks are filled with 26 underclassmen, and they have all stepped up. Elexa Bahr is the only upperclassman to score a game-winning goal.
Of the 12 goals scored this season, 10 have been by those underclassmen. Thirty-two of the 38 total points have been by those youngsters. The Gamecocks are the youngest team by average age in the SEC.
TIME TO DEFEND THE ‘SHIP(S)
South Carolina has won the SEC in each of the past two seasons. Just seven of the 34 student-athletes on the roster have been a part of both championship teams.
During that span, South Carolina holds a 20-0-1 SEC record, and going back to 2015, the Gamecocks’ unbeaten streak in SEC play is at 23 matches. That streak is the longest streak in SEC play in South Carolina women’s soccer history.
GAMECOCKS IN THE POLLS
On Tuesday afternoon, the weekly United Soccer Coaches poll was released with the Gamecocks jumping up to No. 15 after defeating Wake Forest 2-0 last Thursday and then Coastal Carolina 3-0 on Sunday night. In the Soccer America poll, the Gamecocks remained at No. 10, and in the Top Drawer Soccer poll, Carolina moved up to No. 7.
NON-CONFERENCE CRUISING
With wins against Wake Forest and Coastal Carolina, the Gamecocks’ non-conference home winning streak will extend into the 2019 season. The 19-match winning streak dates back to 2014. During that time, the Gamecocks have out-scored opponents 48-7 and have not allowed more than one goal in a match at Stone Stadium since 2015 (3-2 win over Coastal Carolina).
IT JUST MEANS MORE
As of Sept. 10, the SEC held the best non-conference winning percentage out of all Division I women’s soccer conferences. The 73.8 winning percentage is higher than the ACC (72.4) and the Pac-12 (70.7).
The Gamecocks are one of eight SEC teams to have just one loss as the non-conference season winds down.
FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Freshman midfielder Jyllissa Harris claimed her first SEC Freshman of the Week after her two-goal and one-assist week against Wake Forest and Coastal Carolina. She netted her first career game-winning goal and became the second Gamecock to score in consecutive matches this season (Lauren Chang). Harris now leads the Gamecocks in points and is tied with Chang in goals (3).
UP NEXT
After just one match this week against Tennessee, the Gamecocks split next weekend as they head to Starkville, Miss., on Sept. 20 and then return home to take on Kentucky on Sept. 23. The Mississippi State match will be played on SECN+ at 7:00 p.m. ET. The Kentucky match can be seen on ESPNU at 5:00 p.m. ET.
