Sept. 24, 2006
Auburn, Ala. – Felicia Schroeder’s goal at 76:53 in the second half of play was enough to lift South Carolina to a 1-0 win over 13th ranked Auburn on Sunday afternoon at AU Soccer Complex. Carolina extends its winning streak to five games. USC is now 8-3 on the year and 2-0 in the SEC, while the loss drops Auburn to 6-3 and 0-2 in the conference. Carolina returns home on Friday, Sept. 29 at 7 pm with a match vs. defending SEC champion Tennessee at Stone Stadium.
“You come out here on a Sunday and you dig deep to try to come out with a win, the emotion has to carry you through and this team has been on the wrong end of the score like this before but today they proved they wanted to win,” said USC head coach Shelley Smith. “We didn’t give up and Felicia did a great job to finish her chance. This is the first time we have been out-shot this year and we were still able to weather that and come up with the goal we needed. I give great credit to our entire team; everyone that went in helped us win the match today.”
On a humid afternoon in Auburn, both teams created several chances that saw Auburn come away with a 15-7 shot advantage. It was a shot by Schroeder though for the Garnet & Black that proved to be the difference in a tight SEC contest. Off Samantha Diaz-Matosas’ feed, Schroeder was able to break by the Auburn backline and beat Auburn goalkeeper Allison Whitworth 1v1 with a shot from eight yards out for the only goal of the match. The goal for Schroeder was her fifth of the year.
With the Schroeder goal, Carolina was able to deny Auburn from the equalizer in the final 13 minutes of play to come away with the win. Junior goalkeeper Laura Armstrong made four saves on the afternoon to earn the win.
“Our backs were solid, they didn’t allow great chances and Laura held everything,” said Coach Smith. “When they had chances she was able to hold it. Laura kept us out of danger and that makes a huge difference. We didn’t make mistakes in the back and today was a match that we deserved to get that result. That is an extremely good Auburn team that will win a lot of games in the SEC. They are one of the best teams we will face. We are very happy to get another win on the road against a strong Auburn team.”
Armstrong’s shutout was her fourth of the season and the sixth by the Gamecocks this year. In all 11 matches this year, South Carolina has limited its opponent to one goal or less. Carolina’s win over the ranked Tigers marked the first win by USC against a ranked opponent since September 15, 2004 when USC defeated seventh ranked Clemson, 2-0 at Stone Stadium. It is the first time in school history that USC had defeated a ranked opponent on the road.
“I felt very confident, we had to fight for that win and our team was playing well,” said Armstrong. “They made it easy for me and I was able to keep our team in the game. Our defense played awesome all over the field. Organization is a big thing for us and we are all trying to work on it. We realize that if we want to win games we have to stay organized in the back and keep our composure. It starts with me and continues up the field. I’ve played with Blakely and Kimmy in high school and club before so I’m used to them in the back.”
Friday’s match against the nationally ranked Lady Vols will feature a live audio broadcast and live gametracker stats. USC will conclude the home weekend on Sunday, Oct. 1 with a match vs. Georgia scheduled for 2 p.m.
