Oct. 8, 2010
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By Miquel Jacobs
Media Relations Assistant
| Coach Smith |
AUBURN, Ala. – South Carolina’s striker duo of Kayla Grimsley and Brooke Jacobs continued their hot streaks Friday night to lead No. 15 South Carolina to a 3-1 victory against Auburn at the AU Soccer Complex. Grimsley, a Hermann Trophy Award candidate, notched her second consecutive two-goal match to take the SEC lead with 23 points on the year as South Carolina improves to 10-2-2 (4-0-1 SEC).
“It was a great match,” South Carolina head coach Shelley Smith said. “Auburn’s a very good team. They gave us trouble in the first half. They’re skilled and good at combining. They’re dangerous. We did well to shut them down. We had a lot of possession the first half and were able to go up a goal. To come out in the second half, to give up a goal and come back the way we needed to to score and win the game was wonderful. We did well to adjust our game to make sure we came out more physical in the match to keep the ball in our half of the field.”
Grimsley scored in the 39th and 79th minutes with Jacobs notching her goal in the 83rd to seal the victory and keep Carolina unbeaten in road games this year at 5-0-1. Auburn’s Ana Cate scored in the 65th as Auburn (8-5-0, 2-3-0 SEC) becomes just the second SEC team this year to score on Mollie Patton.
The victory improves the hot streak for the South Carolina offense that has outscored opponents 18-2 in the last four matches, all SEC games. Grimsley and Jacobs both have five goals in that stretch for Carolina. Carolina is now tied for first in the SEC.
“They’re clicking,” Smith said of Grimsley and Jacobs. “They’re reading each other much better. They’re working for each other and know where each other will be. They’re building confidence. Individually, Kayla is taking shots that before she would pass up, and the same with Brooke. That’s been a major difference with their goal scoring. That’s something we talked about it, they worked on it and they’re seeing the rewards.”
Grimsley scored the first goal of the game off a rebound from Kelsey Barr’s shot in the box. Grimsley shot it into the corner of the net for the 1-0 lead, with Barr earning the assist. The game marks the second straight that Barr and Grimsley connected for a goal. Grimsley added the second after splitting three defenders for the chip over the keeper. Cate’s goal came after a series of misclears that included one where Patton had to save what would have been an own goal.
South Carolina travels to SEC West leading Alabama for a Sunday afternoon match at the Alabama Soccer Complex. The Crimson Tide played Florida to a 1-1 draw tonight.
