Sept. 16, 2005
Columbia, S.C. – The South Carolina women’s soccer team finishes off its non-conference slate this weekend at home on Sunday, Sept. 18 as the Gamecocks host Miami (Fla.) at 11 a.m. at Stone Stadium. USC enters the match with a 3-3 record with Miami (Fla.) entering the weekend 4-2-1 on the season. Sunday’s match is part of a tripleheader on Sunday at the Graveyard with the USC men’s soccer adidas/South Carolina Gamecock Classic following the women’s game. College of Charleston will face Pennsylvania at 1 p.m. with the Gamecock men’s soccer wrapping the weekend up at 3:30 p.m. vs. Loyola-Chicago. Live audio and gametracker stats will be available at uscsports.com.
“We want to play as well as we can, and are looking forward to being at home this weekend” said Smith. “We should be well rested and focused for Sunday’s game. We talk about every game being a big game for us, conference or non-conference. It’s good to play against other top teams from other conferences, including teams from the ACC. This match gives us a chance to prove ourselves.”
This is the first meeting between the Gamecocks and Hurricanes. USC enters the match hoping to snap a three-game losing streak. Carolina is ranked 11th in the Southeast Region by Soccer Buzz with Miami (Fla.) coming into the match with a regional ranking of eighth by both the NSCAA/adidas and Soccer Buzz polls.
“As a coaching staff, we were very pleased with our players performance in practice this week,” said Smith. “We came back and didn’t hang our heads. We knew we played well last weekend and we had to look at why we didn’t get the results we wanted. I think we have taken care of some of our mistakes and have worked on some things that kept us from really finishing those games. I think they are ready to get a win at home.”
Junior midfielder Jessi Swaim continues to lead the Gamecocks in points with six on the year. Swaim has two goals and two assists through the first six matches. Junior forwards M.A. Foster and Darcel Mollon, along with sophomores Courtney Cobbs and Ashley Kirk, are right behind Swaim with five points each. Sophomore goalkeeper Lindsay Thorstenson has started all six matches in between the posts and owns a goals-against average of 0.87 with 14 saves and one shutout.
Miami (Fla.)’s leading scorer is freshman midfielder Bryn Heinicke, who has three goals and two assists. Freshman forward Tessa Lennala and freshman midfielder Rachael Rigamat also have two goals for the Hurricanes’ offensive attack. The Hurricanes will face Auburn on Friday night before traveling to Columbia for Sunday’s match.
Since Shelley Smith became head coach in 2001, Carolina has had great success against non-conference opponents with a 31-12-3 record (.707) against teams outside of the SEC. Over the last five seasons, South Carolina is also 18-2 against non-conference opponents at home with 11 consecutive wins dating back to the 2003 season.
WOMEN’S SOCCER TO SIGN AUTOGRAPHS AT GAMECOCK VILLAGE & AFTER SUNDAY’S MATCH
-The Carolina women’s soccer team will make an appearance to greet fans and sign autographs from 1:30-2:30 pm. The USC women will also sign autographs after Sunday’s match at Stone Stadium.
