Sept. 18, 2005
Columbia, S.C. – Darcel Mollon tallied a goal and one assist and Alex Mouton scored her first goal of the season as the South Carolina women’s soccer team snapped a three-game losing streak with a 2-1 victory over Miami (Fla.) on Sunday at Stone Stadium. Carolina improves to 4-3 on the season while the loss drops Miami (Fla.) to 5-3-1 on the year.
“I think we did a great job overall coming back from the losses last week,” said USC head coach Shelley Smith. “We came in knowing today was an important game. The second half we came back and did our job to win the match. Miami has been on a great roll and were ranked ahead of us in the region. We’re battling with a lot of teams in our region and this was a great step for us today.”
The match started off fast with both teams scoring goals inside the first 10 minutes of action. USC took the early one-goal lead at 1:45 when a cross from Mollon, found Mouton, who put a shot in from inside the six yard box.
Miami (Fla.) would tie the match back up at 1-1 in the eighth minute of play though as Paulette Ricks-Chambers took advantage of a Carolina defensive lapse and broke into the “18” free and knocked a shot past USC goalkeeper Laura Armstrong.
The match remained tied until 70:50 when Mollon tallied the game-winning goal. Controlling the ball just past midfield, USC’s Erin Sullivan knocked a ball to the left corner of the field that found outside midfielder Jessi Swaim. Swaim, who was able to break behind the Miami defense, broke into the left-side box to the end line and played a cross that was flicked in by Mollon and past Miami keeper Lauren McAdam putting USC on top 2-1. Mollon’s goal was her third of the year.
South Carolina finished the match with a 10-4 shot advantage and a 6-0 edge in corner kicks. Laura Armstrong played all 90 minutes in goal and earned her first victory of the season.
“We knew we couldn’t compete in the air, they’re a much bigger team and are very good in the air,” said Coach Smith. “You can’t play balls in the box, you have to make sure you break them down. Our center midfielders were crucial today between Sullivan, Thurber and Kirk. They were finding good runs from our forwards, good passing angles. I think that was huge for us to move the ball.”
The Gamecocks will now enter SEC play beginning next Friday, Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. hosting Auburn at Stone Stadium. USC will also face Alabama at home on Sunday, Sept. 25 at 2 p.m. in the first weekend of conference action. Live gametracker stats and live audio will be available at uscsports.com.
