Sep 1, 2013
BROOKLINE, Mass. – Despite a half hour delay due to lightning in the area and driving rain throughout the morning, South Carolina used a second half onslaught to put away Northeastern 3-0 at Parsons Field this afternoon.
“We made some better choices in our offensve third, the passing was more clean,” Head Coach Shelley Smith said of the play up front. “I thought the first half took us a bit to get adjusted. Northeastern came out with good pressure and we had to figure out how we were going to get behind. I thought we showed glimpses of the attack in the first half, but I think in the second half we made some better choices and put some good pressure on them and created some good goal scoring opportunities.”
Striker Sophie Groff tallied the game’s opening goal in the 23rd minute, scoring the first goal of her career from six yards out. Freshman Daija Griffin sent a low cross into the box to Groff who held off a Huskie defender, turned to her left and fired a shot to the left side past Northeastern keeper Paige Burnett.
Just over 10 minutes later, Griffin nearly doubled the lead as freshman midfielder Chelsea Drennan hit a low cross from the left side that first skipped past a sliding attempt from senior forward Danielle Au before finding the foot of Griffin whose attempt was grabbed by Burnett.
Nearly three minutes later, junior Christa Neary sent in a cross that Groff brought down in the middle of the Northeastern box, tapped to Au who slipped past a defender and ripped a clean shot to the right side that was knocked out of play.
The Gamecocks stormed out of the half on a mission, looking to the put the game away. Drennan beat her defender down the right flank and sent in a low cross to Au who turned right and hit a shot to the low left corner past a diving Northeastern keeper to double the lead and record her third goal of the year. Au led all Gamecocks with four shots, including three on frame.
Less than seven minutes later, Raina Johnson got herself into the scoring column as the sophomore midfielder found space just outside the edge of the right side of the 18-yard box and hit a liner over the Huskies’ keeper which found the top corner of the net to close out the Garnet and Black’s scoring output.
After only a two shot advantage in the first half, the Gamecocks recorded nine shots in the second 45 minutes to post a 16-7 edge in the shot column, putting 13 on frame.
South Carolina junior goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo continued her shutout streak to start the season after recording three saves today. She increased her scoreless streak to 380 minutes and is currently fourth all-time in shutouts at Carolina with 11.
The Gamecocks will take a 3-0-1 record into Clemson on Sept. 6 for the annual Palmetto State clash. Kickoff is slated for 5:30 p.m. ET.
Season tickets for women’s soccer, which includes admission to all home games, are currently on sale in the Gamecock Ticket Office. Fans can purchase tickets online at GamecocksOnline.com, or by calling 1-800-4SC-FANS. Cost for season tickets for women’s soccer is $25 for adults and $10 for youth (17 and under).
