March 18, 2014

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina women’s soccer team will host the Trinidad & Tobago women’s national team on Saturday. Kickoff is slated for 3:30 p.m., ET at Stone Stadium with free admission.

“This is a great opportunity for us to play an international opponent, someone who is preparing for the world cup qualifying stage so we’re glad to help them out and give them a good game,” head coach Shelley Smith said. “For our players, it’s an opportunity to see another style of play, different from what we face a lot of times in the U.S. and in the college game. There will be a lot of things that we’re not normally faced with and how we deal with that will just make us better.”

The game will be part of the Gamecocks’ spring season, which began last month, while Trinidad & Tobago is currently preparing for the CONCACAF group stages as they attempt to qualify for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

South Carolina has ties to Caribbean nation, as former Gamecock Darcel Mollon has been a staple on its national team since the mid-2000s. She will not be making the trip though as she is currently playing professionally in Sweden with Kvarnsvedens IK.

Carolina will use this opportunity to help prepare for the fall as they look to improve on one of the best seasons in program history. The Gamecocks were ranked in the Top 20 the majority of the year and rose to as high as No. 7 (Oct. 15, 2013) in the NSCAA rankings before finishing the year at No. 15. Carolina’s final record of 17-4-2 was the second-best mark in school history, while the team put together the program’s only undefeated season at home at 11-0-0.