No. 3 South Carolina Welcomes Mississippi State To Stone Stadium Thursday
Oct. 4, 2017
#3 Women’s Soccer vs. Mississippi State
COLUMBIA, S.C. — No. 3 South Carolina women’s soccer (10-1-0, 4-0-0 SEC) aims for its ninth-straight win when it hosts Mississippi State (7-1-3, 1-1-2 SEC) in a conference home match set for Thu., Oct. 5. Kickoff from Stone Stadium is slated for 7 p.m. ET, and the match between the Gamecocks and Bulldogs can be seen on SEC Network+.
SCOUTING MISSISSIPPI STATE
The Bulldogs, who enter Thursday’s game with just one loss on the season, are unbeaten in their last three matches in a stretch highlighted by a 3-1 win over Missouri on Sept. 21. Mississippi State sports a mark of 1-1-1 in away matches in 2017, and this week will be its first contest against a ranked foe this season.
Sophomore forward MaKayla Waldner leads the Bulldog attack with 12 points on six goals, while junior attacker Brooke McKee ranks second on the team with four tallies. Graduate student Catalina Perez has played every minute in net for Mississippi State, which ranks sixth in the conference with a 0.771 goals against average. The Bulldogs’ 22 goals this season stand as the fourth-best scoring output in the league, and their 60 points are good for the seventh-highest mark among conference members.
Carolina is 10-4-3 against Mississippi State in a stretch that dates back to 1996. The Gamecocks, who are unbeaten in their last 10 games against the Bulldogs, sport a mark of 7-2-1 in home matches in the series.
LAST TIME OUT
Paced by goals from attackers Elexa Bahr and Ryan Gareis, South Carolina topped No. 18 Ole Miss 2-0 in last Friday night’s top-25 battle (Sept. 29) at Ole Miss Soccer Stadium.
Bahr’s goal in the 10th minute was set up by senior Savannah McCaskill, who charged towards the box after gathering the ball near the top of the attacking third. The striker drew the attention of a pair of Rebel defenders and alertly slipped a well-placed pass to Bahr near the right side of the box. Bahr took one dribble before slotting it home with a right-footed hit that beat Ole Miss goalkeeper Marnie Merritt.
Gareis stretched the Carolina lead to 2-0 in the 60th minute following a beautiful strike from 18 yards out. The first-year forward found the back of the net on a well-hit attempt from the top left corner of the box, firing a perfectly-placed shot that beat Merritt.
The Gamecock defense, which has yet to concede a goal in SEC play this season, shined and held Ole Miss to just three shots on frame for the night.
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.
Stanford (2), North Carolina (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 five weeks inside the top-five this season, have been positioned in the top-15 in each of the last 19 installments of the poll dating back to last year. South Carolina has earned a top-10 ranking 15 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 each of their last 16 matches 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 13 of the 16 wins.
NO GOALS FOR YOU
South Carolina enters Thursday’s match as the only SEC team to not allow a goal in conference play. The Gamecocks have notched clean sheets in seven of their last eight matches, allowing just one goal over that stretch. Carolina, which has conceded more than one goal just once in 2017, ranks fourth in the league with a 0.49 goals against average for the season. The Gamecocks have allowed three or less shots on target six times for the year.
A MODEL OF CONSISTENCY
With their 2-0 victory over No. 18 Ole Miss last week, the Gamecocks reached double-digit wins in a season for the 13th time under head coach Shelley Smith. Carolina has boasted at least 10 victories in all but three seasons during Smith’s 16 years at the program, accomplishing the feat in each of the last five falls.
GUTTING IT OUT
Six of Carolina’s victories during its eight-match winning streak have been by one goal, and two of the wins have come in overtime. The Gamecocks have netted the game-winner in the final 15 minutes of a match four times during the stretch.
PLAYING FOR A CROWD
Carolina leads the SEC and currently ranks second in NCAA Division I in average attendance with 3,076 fans per home match. The Gamecocks, who finished the 2016 regular season with the top average attendance mark, have hosted over 2,500 fans in four of its five home contests this year. Carolina sported 12th-highest crowd (3,699) in program history in its match against High Point on Aug. 27.
SPREADING THE WEALTH
Seven different players have netted a game-winning goal in Carolina’s 10 victories this season. Gamecock seniors Savannah McCaskill and Lindsey Lane, sophomore forward Elexa Bahr, freshmen midfielders Bianca Galassini and Lauren Chang and first-year attackers Ryan Gareis and Luciana Zullo have all registered game-winners in 2017 for a Gamecock team that had seven players tally a game-winner all of last year.
UP NEXT
South Carolina continues SEC play this weekend when it faces Arkansas on the road on Sun., Oct. 8. Kickoff for Sunday’s contest is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET, and the match will air on ESPNU.
