Oct. 16, 2014

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COLUMBIA, S.C. – Freshman Savannah McCaskill buried a header off a corner kick service from sophomore Chelsea Drennan with just under two minutes remaining to give South Carolina (10-4-1, 3-3-1 SEC) a 3-2 upset win over No. 5 Florida (11-3-0, 6-1-0 SEC) on Thursday night at Stone Stadium. Tonight’s win is the Gamecocks’ second straight over the Gators, a program first.

The Gamecocks were on the hunt for the net from the opening whistle. South Carolina took an early 1-0 lead when Drennan took a Gator turnover at the edge of the Gamecocks’ attacking third into the box and slotted the ball past Florida keeper Taylor Burke just two minutes into the match.

In the 34th minute, South Carolina added another tally. Shortly after checking in, sophomore Sophie Groff touched another Florida turnover over to McCaskill. The freshman calmly sent the ball into the net for a 2-0 Gamecock lead.

South Carolina’s defense was swarming and limited the Gators to just two shots in the first half, but after the break, the Gators picked up momentum and came surging back with two goals from Havana Solaun.

Solaun tallied an unassisted goal to the upper right corner over Gamecock keeper Sabrina D’Angelo in the 66th minute and added the equalizer just 20 minutes later on a hard shot off a ball from Annie Speese.

With the game tied at 2-2 and just five minutes on the clock, the game looked to be headed to overtime. South Carolina earned a corner kick with just over two minutes on the clock. Drennan served the ball into the box and McCaskill headed it home for the first game-winner of her collegiate career.

GAMECHANGER

Freshman Savannah McCaskill gave the Gamecocks the 3-2 win over the Gators in the 89th minute, netting a corner kick service from sophomore Chelsea Drennan for her second goal of the night.

KEY STAT After scoring just two goals in the previous five games, the Gamecocks notched three goals in tonight’s contest. The Gators had not given up three goals in a match this season, and had surrendered more than one score just once, a 1-2 road loss at Oklahoma.

NOTABLES

• Tonight’s result over No. 5 Florida is the first South Carolina win over a top-5 team since a 1-0 victory at No. 1 North Carolina in 2007.
• The Gamecocks have now defeated Florida in consecutive meetings for the first time in program history and are just the sixth team all-time to defeat the Gators in consecutive regular-season matches.
• Florida had allowed more than one goal just once all season entering the night, a 1-2 loss at Oklahoma. The Gamecocks had scored three goals just once, a 3-0 win at South Florida in early September.
• Chelsea Drennan’s goal in the second minute was the first Gamecock goal against Florida at Stone Stadium since a 1-1 tie in 2006.
• Tonight’s win is just the second over Florida at Stone Stadium (1-0 OT, 2002) and just the fifth overall in the all-time series.
• After scoring just once at home in the previous 300 minutes, the Gamecocks scored twice in the first 34 minutes of the match.
• Florida recorded just two shots in the first half. The Gamecocks have limited their opponents to two shots or less in the first half eight times this season.
• Drennan’s game-winning assist is the 7th of her career, third in program history. She now has 15 career assists, which ties for fifth in program history.
• Freshman Savannah McCaskill doubled her season goal total in tonight’s match after entering the game with two and notching a pair of tallies vs. the Gators. Her score in the 89th minute is the first game-winner of her collegiate career.
• Sophomore Sophie Groff notched her third assist of the season on McCaskill’s first score of the night.
• Tonight’s match was the Gamecocks’ first home contest to be broadcast on the SEC Network. All of South Carolina’s home matches are available on the SEC Network+.

TWEET OF THE GAME

Way cool watching @GamecockWSoccer beat the Gators on the @SECNetwork! #gococks #lovesecnetwork

— Joey Denton (@Joey_Denton) October 17, 2014

QUOTABLE South Carolina Head Coach Shelley Smith
I’m excited. I look at it as just a tremendous conference win. We needed that. I’m grateful for Florida and the other teams in the conference to do so well, because when you play well, win or lose, it’s not hurting you, it’s helping you – and everyone in the conference. That’s what it comes down to in the SEC, we battle each other, but we are all good teams. You know on any given day, any team can beat you. Any team can win that night. So, that’s why you play the game. Florida is going to go on and win games; they’re very good. Again, we just need to continue to do what we did tonight. And whoever we face, doesn’t matter what ranking they are, we are going to make sure we are doing what we need to do to win games.

Freshman forward Savannah McCaskill
It was amazing. Everybody left it all on the field. Even when they scored to tie it, we all the mentality to just go out and get it. We knew we could. I’m just so proud of the whole team for this great game.

UP NEXT The Gamecocks host Ole Miss at Stone Stadium on Sunday. The SEC Network+ will have coverage of the 1 p.m. SEC contest.