Sept. 7, 2014

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COLUMBIA, S.C. – On first half goals from junior Raina Johnson and sophomore Chelsea Drennan, No. 9 South Carolina defeated High Point 1-0 on Sunday afternoon. The Gamecocks improve to 5-1-0 with the result, and the Panthers (2-1-2) collect their first loss of the season.

After High Point recorded the first shot of the match in the 11th minute, the Gamecocks took over, firing the final 14 shots of the half and putting 10 of them on frame.

Freshman Savannah McCaskill set Johnson up in the 13th minute, but High Point keeper Alex Persiani saved the attempt. Just four minutes later, the pair would connect. McCaskill sent a pass from the top of the 18-yard box towards Johnson on her right. Johnson drove the ball low past the keeper for an early 1-0 lead.

Johnson nearly added her second goal of the afternoon a few minutes later, making a turn on her defender for another shot that Persiani collected as one of her eight first-half saves.

Starting at the 26th minute, South Carolina earned a string of three corner kicks within a minute. Senior Christa Neary and freshman Dominique Babbitt posted shots in the sequence, but weren’t able to capitalize thanks to quick reactions from the Panther keeper.

Sophomore Daija Griffin continued the attack, nearly adding to the scoring total in the 38th minute. Searching for the net, she launched a rocket that clanked off of the post.

In the 40th minute, Chelsea Drennan scored her first goal of the season. Andie Romness set Drennan up, serving a ball on a free kick into the box. Drennan finished the play with a header over the keeper’s head just under the bar. The play gave the Gamecocks a 2-0 advantage.

In the second half, South Carolina continued to attack, testing High Point’s second freshman keeper of the day, Jordan Beets, who was inserted at the start of the second half. The Gamecocks didn’t find the back of the net, and the 2-0 halftime score stood as the final result.

The defense bounced back from Friday’s result with a stellar performance, allowing just three shots. None of the attempts posed a threat as the Panthers didn’t record a shot on goal in the contest.

Game Changer
Junior Raina Johnson scored in the 17th minute to give the Gamecocks a 1-0 edge, and the tally stood up to be the decider. All three of Johnson’s goals in 2014 have been gamewinners.

Key Stat
After allowing 11 shots on Friday night, South Carolina faced just three shots this afternoon and did not surrender a shot on goal.

Notables

• With today’s attendance of 2,869, the Gamecocks have played in front of at least 1,900 fans at each of their five home matches this season. Each of the totals rank in the top-10 of the program’s all-time attendance records.
• Junior Raina Johnson scored her third goal of the season in the 17th minute; all three have been gamewinners. Johnson has eight game-winning goals in her career, fifth in program history.
• Freshman Savannah McCaskill recorded her second assist, first game-winning assist, of the season on Raina Johnson’s tally.
• Sophomore Chelsea Drennan notched the second goal of her career and her first in 2014 on a header in the 40th minute.
• Senior Andie Romness earned the assist on Drennan’s score. It is her third of the season, a team high.
• Senior goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo posted her 24th career clean sheet in today’s victory. The total ranks second in school history (Mollie Patton, 31).

Tweet of the Game

Staying till the end through the rain to celebrate a victory and sing the alma mater with @GamecockWSoccer pic.twitter.com/HQUBgkXzVF

— Harrison McConnell (@HarrisonMcC) September 7, 2014

Quotable
South Carolina Head Coach Shelley Smith
I was proud of them today. They came out and played. We got back to some of the things that we do well. We wanted to make sure we did that coming off of Friday night. I told the team, you learn from losses. I thought we bounced back well and we did some things we talked about that we got away from Friday against Clemson. Overall, it was a great team effort.

Up Next
South Carolina wraps up non-conference play with a trip to Tampa, Fla., for the USF Soccer Classic. The Gamecocks take on host USF Fri., Sept. 12, at 7 p.m., and Florida Gulf Coast on Sun., Sept. 14, at 2 p.m.