Oct. 13, 2005
Columbia, S.C. – The South Carolina women’s soccer team returns to action on the road traveling to Ole Miss and Mississippi State this weekend. The Gamecocks head to the Magnolia State looking to break a four-game losing streak, the team’s longest of the season. Carolina faces Ole Miss on Friday night at 8 p.m. ET with Sunday’s match set for 2 p.m. ET. Sunday’s match will be televised live on SEC-TV and FOX Sports Net South.
Carolina enters the weekend 5-8 and 1-5 in the SEC. Ole Miss is on top in the SEC Western Division with a 5-1 conference record and an overall mark of 11-3. The Rebels are 5-2 in home matches this year. Mississippi State is 2-8-3 and 1-5 in the conference.
ONE-GOAL MATCHES
South Carolina has provided its fans with tense moments into the season as the Gamecocks enter the weekend having already played eight matches decided by one goal including seven of the last 10 contests. That ties for second most in the conference. This past Sunday’s 2-1 loss vs. Kentucky was USC’s first overtime match of the year.
“The games we have lost for the most part are one-goal games,” said Smith. “We are in the match the whole time. That’s the way it goes. We give a lot of credit to our defense for not giving up many goals but we have to make sure we are scoring more goals. That’s been a battle, when we can’t find the net, it’s letting one in. We need to take advantage of our early opportunities and that sets the tone of a match at times.”
USC is 2-6 in one-goal matches, last earning a victory in the 2-1 win over Miami.
RECENT HISTORY VS. THIS WEEK’S OPPONENTS
South Carolina played well in its last trip to the state of Mississippi when the Gamecocks went 1-0-1 back in the 2003 season. USC played Ole Miss to a scoreless tie and earned a 1-0 victory over Mississippi State.
Ironically, the last time USC played a televised game on SEC-TV was the Sunday afternoon match at MSU. Senior co-captain Amanda Thurber was a sophomore and scored the game-winning goal late in the match off an assist from another senior co-captain, Kimmy Criss.
CLOSING IN ON THE GAMECOCK CAREER SCORING LIST
USC junior forward Jessi Swaim is closing in on the top 15 career-scoring list at South Carolina. With her goal vs. Tennessee two weeks, Swaim is just one point shy of the Gamecock Career Scoring List. Swaim has 22 points in her three seasons at Carolina with six goals and 10 assists. That is one point shy of Mandy Pavlovits, who is 15th with 23 points.
Swaim is among the team leaders in scoring this year with nine points off of three goals and three assists.
THORSTENSON KEEPING THINGS IN CHECK AT GOALKEEPER
Sophomore goalkeeper Lindsay Thorstenson has been a mainstay in goal for the Gamecocks this season with 11 starts in 13 matches this year. Thorstenson owns a goals against average of 1.28 with 28 saves in between the posts as well as two shutouts.
