Oct. 15, 2006
Columbia, S.C. – The SEC Women’s Soccer Match of the Week lived up to its expectations on Sunday afternoon as South Carolina and Ole Miss battled to a scoreless draw after 110 minutes of action. Carolina improves to 10-5-2 and 4-2-2 in the SEC with Ole Miss now 7-5-4 and 3-1-4 in the conference. USC sits in a three-way tie for second place with 14 points with three matches left to play. USC returns to action on Friday, Oct. 20 against LSU with kickoff set for 7 pm at Stone Stadium.
“Both teams deserved to win the match,” said USC head coach Shelley Smith. “We both had chances, both had goals called back and we knew it was going to be a good game of soccer. There was a lot of effort left on the field today and we are happy to come away with a point. You always want to get to three but the fact that the team battled, it’s hard on a Sunday; it’s a great credit to both teams.”
The first 45 minutes saw both teams playing pretty even with USC holding a slight 6-4 edge in shots. Samantha Diaz-Matosas had two chances in the first 11 minutes of play with Ole Miss goalkeeper Ann Shelton making two saves for the Rebels. Ole Miss midfielder Christine Breaux hit the crossbar in the 34th minute and the Gamecocks looked to score in the 40thh minute of play only to have the goal called back due to offside on midfielder M.A. Foster.
The tight play continued into the second half as both teams continued to build attacks only to see both goalkeepers keeping the ball out of the goal. Rebel midfielder Danielle Johnson had a shot from eight yards out off a corner kick saved off the line by USC defender Erin Geldhof. The 79th minute saw USC with a near-miss as Felicia Schroeder hit a shot that went off the left post. Overtime would see both teams continue to work for the goal with Chrissy Strini getting of a close shot early into the first overtime with USC goalkeeper Lindsay Thorstenson making the save. The 105th minute saw Carolina’s best chance as midfielder Ashley Kirk launched a 25-yard shot that hit off the crossbar and went over the goal.
South Carolina would finish with a 13-8 shot advantage with Blakely Mattern leading the way with three shots. Diaz-Matosas and Lindsay Small also finished with two shots apiece. Johnson and Strini led Ole Miss with two shots apiece as well.
Carolina subbed often on Sunday afternoon with 18 players seeing action and the bench giving the Gamecocks a big lift. USC goalkeeper Lindsay Thorstenson made her second straight start in between the posts for injured keeper Laura Armstrong and earned a shutout with five saves in goal. Shelton would finish with four saves as well in goal for the Rebels.
“We are going to win and lose as a team; that is how it has been this year,” said USC head coach Shelley Smith. The importance of the depth is incredible; going into the season we felt we had good depth. We’ve been playing well as a team and using the depth well.”
South Carolina sits in a three-way tie with Vanderbilt and Tennessee for second place with 14 points and three matches left to play. Florida is currently leading the conference with 19 points. It’s tight behind the Gamecocks as well with Ole Miss at 13, Auburn at 12 points, LSU at 11 points, Kentucky and Arkansas with 10 apiece and Georgia at nine points. Alabama and Mississippi State each have three as well. The top eight teams earn a spot in the SEC Tournament at Orange Beach, Ala. in November.
“The conference is incredible and it’s very close between a lot of teams,” said Coach Smith. “It shows how strong the SEC is and everyone knows you will be playing a good match every week. Top to bottom there are quality teams.”
Friday night’s match vs. LSU will be broadcast live on uscsports.com with live gametracker stats available as well.
