Oct. 5, 2014

Final Stats | Printable Box Score

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Sophomore Daija Griffin’s goal in the 75th minute put No. 24 South Carolina (9-3-1, 2-2-1 SEC) back in the win column with a 1-0 win over LSU (5-7-2, 1-3-1 SEC) on Sunday at Stone Stadium.

The Gamecocks’ first true scoring chance came in the 18th minute. Junior Raina Johnson sent a shot wide after firing a rebound from a blocked shot from junior Coryn Bajema. The effort led to a corner kick with sophomore Chelsea Drennan hitting senior Taylor Leach in the box, but Leach’s header went wide of the net.

The Tigers posted their first shot of the match in in the 35th minute with Madeline Ramsey pushing a shot across the goal face wide of the post.

On another corner kick just before the half, Drennan and Leach teamed up again, but the header in the 40th minute was blocked, and the Gamecocks were unable to punch the rebound in the goal.

In the second half, the Gamecocks continued to control the game. Drennan and Leach connected for the third time of the afternoon on a corner kick in the 62nd minute. This time, Leach’s header went into the frame, but LSU midfielder Emma Fletcher was in the net in support to keep the match scoreless.

LSU posted their first and only shot on goal in the 64th minute on a long-range shot from Megan Lee that went straight to Sabrina D’Angelo for the save.

After nearly posting goals on the day’s three earlier corner kicks, the Gamecocks secured the win on a corner in the 75th minute. On South Carolina’s fourth and final corner of the afternoon, Drennan served the ball into the box and freshman Lauren Jankowski tapped it over to Griffin through traffic. Griffin poked the ball through a scrum for her first points of the season.

GAMECHANGER

Sophomore Daija Griffin scored her first goal of the season on a corner kick from Chelsea Drennan that Lauren Jankowski played over to the Gamecock. The tally in the 75th minute stood up to be the game-winner.

KEY STAT The Gamecocks held their opponent to just one shot in the first half for the second match in a row. South Carolina allowed just four shots today, and only one Tiger opportunity went on frame.

NOTABLES

• Daija Griffin’s tally in the 75th is her first of the season and her second career game-winner. Freshman Lauren Jankowski collected her second assist of the year on the play.
• Goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo now has eight shutouts on the season. D’Angelo holds 27 career shutouts, second in school history to Mollie Patton’s 31.
• Today’s shutout is South Carolina’s first clean sheet in conference play. The Gamecocks had allowed one goal in each of their first four SEC contests.
• The Gamecocks had not scored in over 270 minutes of play at Stone Stadium, a streak dating back to a first-half goal from Chelsea Drennan in a 2-0 win over High Point on Sun., Sept. 7.
• LSU has not won in Columbia since the inaugural meeting between the teams in 1995 and have won just twice in 17 meetings with the Gamecocks. South Carolina leads the all-time series 10-2-5.

QUOTABLE South Carolina Head Coach Shelley Smith
It was a battle like you expect on Sunday in the SEC. LSU is a talented team. I was proud of the performance that we had to give them so few chances and to get the goal that we needed. We’ve been struggling to find the net even though we’ve out-shot our opponents. It was nice to finally see one go in, which we haven’t done at home in awhile. I’m very happy.

UP NEXT The Gamecocks travel to Kentucky on Fri., Oct. 10, for a 7:30 p.m. ET match against the Wildcats. South Carolina returns to Columbia for a contest vs. No. 6 Florida on Thurs., Oct. 16, at 7 p.m. The SEC Network is set to broadcast the match nationally.