No. 3 South Carolina Faces Missouri Thursday On The Road
Oct. 18, 2017
#3 Women’s Soccer at Missouri
COLUMBIA, S.C. — No. 3 South Carolina women’s soccer (13-1-0, 7-0-0 SEC) continues SEC play this week when it faces Missouri (6-9-1, 2-5-0 SEC) on the road on Thu., Oct. 19. Kickoff from Walton Soccer Stadium is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET, and the match can be seen on SEC Network+. With a win over the Tigers and losses by Texas A&M and Tennessee Thursday, the Gamecocks will clinch at least a share of the SEC Regular-Season Title.
FROM THE COACH
“This will be another tough match on the road in the SEC. We have to stay sharp to be able to get points away from home. This is a team we haven’t faced since two years ago. We know they are very dangerous in the final third, and we have to try and slow down their attack. We must take advantage of any chances we create in our offense.”
SCOUTING MISSOURI
Missouri earned its second SEC win of the season last week after downing Kentucky 2-1 on Oct. 12. The victory snapped a five-game losing streak for the Tigers, who sport a mark of 4-3-0 in home contests for the year. Missouri is winless (0-3) against ranked opponents in 2017, and Thursday will mark its third game against a top-10 foe this season.
Sophomore forward Sarah Luebbert leads the Tigers with 15 points on five goals and a team-best five assists, while senior attacker Jessica Johnson ranks first on the team in game-winners (2). Missouri’s 72 goals in 2017 stand as the seventh-best total in the SEC, and its 25 goals are ninth among conference members. Freshman Peyton Bauman and redshirt senior Kristen Rivers have split time in net for the Tigers, whose 1.883 goals against average ranks 14th in the league.
South Carolina has won each of its last two matches against Missouri. The Tigers lead the overall series 3-2, and each of the five games between the two have been decided by one goal.
LAST TIME OUT
A pair of early goals from strikers Savannah McCaskill and Elexa Bahr Luciana Zullo paced South Carolina to a 3-0 victory over Vanderbilt last Sunday (Oct. 15) at Stone Stadium.
McCaskill opened the scoring in the sixth minute on a beautiful strike from distance, as the Chapin, S.C., native collected a pass from senior midfielder Lindsey Lane and fired a shot into the top left corner of the net past Vanderbilt goalkeeper Taiana Tolleson.
The Gamecocks pushed their lead to 2-0 two minutes later when McCaskill threaded a well-placed through ball to Bahr near the top of the attacking third. Bahr collected the pass and raced into the box before slipping the ball under Tolleson to double Carolina’s advantage.
Carolina put on a clinical defensive performance, and Vanderbilt was limited to three shots for the game. The Commodores put just one attempt on frame against a Gamecock team that fired eight shots on target throughout the match.
WE’RE NUMBER ONE
Carolina remained atop the Women’s Soccer RPI rankings this week, the NCAA announced Monday. The Gamecocks earned the program’s highest spot in the rankings after debuting at No. 1 on Sept. 18. South Carolina spent eight weeks ranked inside the RPI top-five last season, earning a top-three listing four times throughout the stretch.
North Carolina (2), Stanford (3), Duke (4) and UCF (5) rounded out the top-five in Monday’s ranking. The Gamecocks, who moved past the Knights 2-0 in their season opener on Aug. 18, boast five wins against teams currently ranked inside the top-25 of the RPI.
STAYING POWER
South Carolina stayed at No. 3 in Tuesday’s United Soccer Coaches Poll. The Gamecocks, who have spent seven weeks inside the top-five this season, have been positioned in the top-15 in each of the last 21 installments of the poll dating back to last year. South Carolina has earned a top-10 ranking 17 times over that stretch. The Gamecocks entered the fall with the program’s highest preseason spot after being listed at No. 4 in August.
STREAKING IN THE SEC
The Gamecocks have won a program-record 19-straight games in SEC regular-season play in a streak that dates back to 2015. South Carolina closed its 2015 conference slate with a 4-0 victory over Tennessee before posting a perfect 11-0-0 mark in league play last fall en route to the 2016 SEC Regular-Season Title. The Gamecocks notched a shutout in 15 of the 19 wins.
REGULAR SEASON WARRIORS
Carolina boasts a mark of 30-1-1 over its last 32 regular-season matches in a stretch that dates back to the start of the 2016 season. The Gamecocks have notched victories over seven ranked opponents during that time, and 15 of their wins have come by at least two goals. Carolina, which has gone on a double-digit winning streak in each of the last two seasons, has outscored its foes 66-14 over the stretch.
GETTING DEFENSIVE
South Carolina has allowed a conference-best two goals in SEC play this season. The Gamecocks have notched clean sheets in nine of their last 11 matches, allowing just three goals over that stretch. Carolina, which has conceded more than one goal just twice in 2017, ranks first in the league with a 0.49 goals against average for the season. The Gamecocks have yet to allow more than three shots on target in league play in 2017.
FRESHMEN FIREPOWER
Carolina’s freshman class has made an instant impact on the Gamecock attack, accounting for 12 of the team’s 26 goals in 2017. A freshman has notched the game-winner in five of South Carolina’s last 11 victories, and six first-year players have recorded a point this fall. Forward Luciana Zullo, who has registered a point in each of the last three games, ranks third on the team in game-winners (2), goals (4) and points (11). Midfielder Breukelen Woodard is one of three Gamecocks with multiple assists on the year, while fellow freshman Bianca Galassini is fourth on the team with three tallies. Newcomers Ryan Gareis and Lauren Chang also boast multiple goals in 2017.
CLUTCH GENE
With her goal in the sixth minute against Vanderbilt this past weekend, Gamecock attacker Savannah McCaskill moved into a tie with Jennie Ondo (1996-99) for the most game-winners (16) in program history. The senior standout, who set a single-year school record with 10 game-winning tallies in 2016, is tied for first in the SEC with three game-winners in league play this season.
UP NEXT
South Carolina plays host to Georgia this weekend on Sun., Oct. 22, at Stone Stadium. The match against the Bulldogs marks the final regular-season home game for the Gamecocks, who will honor seven players for Senior Night prior to kickoff. Sunday’s contest, which can be seen on SEC Network+, gets underway at 6 p.m. ET.
