Sept. 30, 2004
Columbia, S.C . – The South Carolina women’s soccer team (6-5, 0-2 SEC) continues conference play this weekend as the Gamecocks host SEC East rivals Georgia (2-5-2, 0-2 SEC) and Tennessee (5-2-2, 2-0 SEC) this weekend at Stone Stadium. Carolina will face Georgia on Friday, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. ET with a Sunday matchup vs. the 19th ranked Lady Vols at 1 p.m. ET. All kids 13 and under will get in for free for both matches this weekend. Sunday’s match with the Lady Vols is the first game in a doubleheader with the USC men’s squad, who face Gardner Webb at 4 p.m. All matches will also be broadcast live at www.uscsports.com.
“We face two challenging opponents this weekend and we have to be prepared to play well consistently,” said Coach Smith. “It’s important for us to take advantage of playing at home and playing at our own stadium. We need to play at the same level and be consistent when we face both Georgia and Tennessee.”
Carolina enters the weekend looking to bounce back after dropping its first two contests of the SEC season on the road last week. The friendly confines of the Graveyard have been nice for USC this year with the Gamecocks owning a 5-0 record at home heading into Friday night’s contest and a six-game winning streak dating back to 2003. USC senior forward Ashley Williams continues to lead the offensive attack for Carolina with six goals and 12 points on the year. Right behind her is senior co-captain Sarah Lentz, who has scored four goals for eight points. Also contributing to the offense are sophomore midfielder Jessi Swaim and freshman midfielder Ashley Kirk. Swaim has a goal and four assists with Kirk notching four assists on the year as well.
USC and Georgia have been in tight battles the last three years with the Bulldogs winning all three matches by one goal. Georgia won last year’s match 2-1 in Athens. The Bulldogs took an early 1-0 lead in the first minutes of the match as Randi Lynn-Bruso scored her third goal of the season at 2:14. Bruso was able to control a cross in the box from Ashley King and knocked a shot to the right corner pass USC goalkeeper Elise Matthews for the first goal of the match. Carolina tied the match at one at 49:36. A cross from M.A. Foster was battled in the box by both Carolina and Georgia before Jenna Ball came away with the ball and scored her first goal of her USC career. Georgia regained the lead three minutes later as Jessica Winton broke through the Carolina defense for her 13th goal of the year. Winton was able to take a through ball from Elizabeth Metherell and head the ball past Matthews to give the Bulldogs a one goal lead at 53:00. Carolina last defeated Georgia in 1999 when the Gamecocks earned a 1-0 win in Athens.
Tennessee comes into the weekend 2-0 in SEC play following its first weekend of conference action. The defending champion in the SEC, the Lady Vols and Gamecocks met twice last year with Tennessee earning a 3-2 win in Knoxville and defeating USC 1-0 at the SEC Tournament. South Carolina played Tennessee to a 1-1 tie in the last meeting in Columbia on oct. 20, 2002.
