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Sept. 7, 2006
Columbia, S.C. – The South Carolina women’s soccer team (3-2) takes its three-game winning streak up the road to Greenville, S.C. this weekend for the second annual Carolinas’ Cup held this year on the campus of Furman University. Carolina opens the tournament on Saturday, Sept. 9 at 12:30 pm against Charlotte and will conclude play on Monday, Sept. 11 at 7:30 pm with a road match vs. the host Lady Paladins.
South Carolina went 0-2 in the inaugural Carolinas’ Cup held at Clemson University last year. USC fell 1-0 to the host Tigers and suffered a 2-1 loss to Charlotte. Carolina did defeat Furman in a non-conference match outside of the Carolinas’ Cup, held in Columbia in a 2-1 victory earlier in the season. Charlotte won the Cup last year following a pair of 2-1 victories over the Gamecocks and Lady Paladins. Live gametracker stats for both matches will be available at uscsports.com.
Comments from Coach Smith
(On heading into the weekend with a three-game winning streak)
“I think it definitely helps to be on a small winning streak with the opportunity to take it on the road. We’ve done our job at home and found ways to finish our chances, which is not what we did in our first two games. Now, we just need to continue on the improvements we made in the last couple of games. That’s what we expect. We’ve had such a great team effort with every performance we have had. It’s wonderful to see the team come together and you can’t ask for much more as a coach, to see that they have taken what we have talked about, made the improvements and necessary adjustments and really found ways to win games. Now, they need to do that going into a road trip.”
(On the Carolinas’ Cup)
“The whole mentality (for us) is we don’t want to repeat a lot of what we did last year. We were very disappointed with the way games turned out last year. There were some wonderful individual performances and team performances in most games, but we just came up on the losing end. This year we are looking to change that and when you go back to the same tournament, same opponents, we need to change that from last year. That’s our goal. It’s a whole new team, whole new year and that’s what we are excited about, to erase last year’s memory.”
“It’s nice that we (four schools) have saved a weekend to face each other and highlight soccer in the state of South Carolina and in North Carolina. We can showcase four great teams in the same area and everyone in the area is familiar with the teams, since we are in the region. I think that’s the point when we came up with this, to showcase women’s soccer in the two states, especially with Charlotte being so close by. We’re happy that everyone can continue to keep it in their schedule, play each other and rotate with each school. It’s nice to have the Charlotte and Furman matches on the same weekend and it leads up to our next match at home vs. Clemson.”
(On success on the offensive end in the last three matches)
“Everyone is pushing each other to be the best that they can be. I don’t think we always have had that. They did a good job to come back this year and understand that whatever we are doing, they are there for the team. They have shown so much support for each other and that makes a difference on the field. When you are being supported by a teammate and you see that teammate working for you, you are going to work that much harder. That’s where up a goal, down a goal, they’ve done a good job to take care of business. We know there is going to be some tough times and some great times but it’s the team that reacts the best that will come through in the end. I think they’ve learned how to react to situations now. They’ve learned how to push each other.”
SULLY RECORDS HAT TRICK IN WIN OVER CITADEL
Junior midfielder Erin Sullivan tied a school record for goals in game with three as she recorded a hat trick in Carolina’s 4-0 win over The Citadel on Tuesday evening. Sullivan became the fourth player in school history to accomplish the feat. The last player to score three goals in a game was Jennie Ondo on Sept. 11, 1996 in a win over Appalachian State.
GAMECOCKS RECORD FIRST SHUTOUT OF THE YEAR
Carolina’s 4-0 win over The Citadel was the team’s first shutout victory of the season. The last time that Carolina won in shutout fashion was on Oct. 23, 2005 in a 3-0 win at LSU.
SCHROEDER STREAK
With a goal in Tuesday’s match vs. The Citadel, sophomore forward Felicia Schroeder has now scored a point for the Gamecocks in three consecutive matches. Schroeder is second among the league leaders in points with eight on the season as she has scored three goals and added two assists.
Schroeder recorded her first multi-goal game of her career at Carolina last Thursday in the 2-1 win over Francis Marion. The two-goal performance marked the first time since last year vs. Alabama that a Carolina player had scored at least two goals in a match. Alex Mouton scored twice for USC in a 2-0 victory last year vs. the Crimson Tide.
GAMECOCKS FIRSTS
All three players to score goals in the win over James Madison also registered their first career goals in a Gamecock uniform. Samantha Diaz-Matosas, Annie Galloway and Blakely Mattern all put in their first goals for the garnet and black.
HOME SWEET HOME
Carolina has proven to be a tough team to beat at the Graveyard with a 29-16-3 record (.635) at Stone Stadium under head coach Shelley Smith. Those 29 victories include a 22-2 (.917) mark against non-conference teams. USC has won 15 straight home contests vs. non-conference teams dating back to the beginning of the 2003 season.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
South Carolina has been very successful over the last six seasons when scoring two goals or more. Carolina has compiled a 37-6-1 record when tallying at least two goals in a match, including a 6-0 mark last season (2005). Carolina is 3-0 this year when scoring two or more goals.
SECOND-HALF SURGE
The second-half has proven to be the difference in the early part of the season for the Gamecocks with six of their nine goals coming in the last half of play. Ironically, all four goals that opponents have scored have also been in the second half with the Gamecocks yet to allow an opposing team score in the first 45 minutes of action.
NEWCOMERS MAKE AN IMPACT
South Carolina has several fresh faces in the mix seeing action for the first time in the garnet and black. Freshman forward Samantha Diaz-Matosas and freshman defender Blakely Mattern have started all five matches with midfielder Kim Miller making four starts and defender Shannon Bigbie with three starts. Forward Leah Louguidice has also made a start for USC. All five newcomers have appeared in all five matches this season.
Several Carolina newcomers also saw their first action in Tuesday’s win over The Citadel. Aly Shattls, Kacie Brewer, Lindsay Small, Amanda Dabbenigno and Kelly Gosnell each played their first career games. Gosnell is a walk-on and the younger sister of former USC letterwinner Ashley Gosnell (2001-04).
Head coach Shelley Smith brought in one of her deepest recruiting classes in her tenure with 10 newcomers in this year’s freshman class. The class was recognized with a No. 5 ranking in the SEC according to Soccer Buzz as well as 10th in the Southeast Region.
ON TAP
The South Carolina-Clemson rivalry renews on the soccer field at Stone Stadium on Friday, Sept. 15 at 7 pm. The last four contests between both schools have been tight. USC last defeated the Tigers in 2004 at Stone Stadium when the Gamecocks earned a 2-0 victory behind goals from Sarah Lentz and Amanda Thurber. Last season the Tigers scored early in the first half and edged out Carolina 1-0 in the opening day of the Carolina Cup.
