July 17, 2007

Columbia, S.C. – Shelley Smith, who led the South Carolina women’s soccer program to a semi-final appearance in the SEC Tournament last November and an 11-6-5 overall record, has received a new five-year contract from the University. The Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees approved Smith’s contract on Tuesday afternoon. The contract runs through February of 2012.

“We are excited with the direction of the women’s soccer program,” said Executive Associate Athletics Director Kevin O’Connell. “Under Shelley’s leadership, the team has made significant progress including a strong season last year that saw the Gamecocks go undefeated at home. Shelley and her staff have done an excellent job in building a quality program that has success on the field, performs very well in the classroom and provides the student-athletes with a positive experience. With three returning All-Conference players and an excellent incoming class we are looking forward to the fall season. We are happy that Shelley is a part of the Gamecock family.”

Entering her seventh season at the helm of the USC women’s soccer program, Smith has established a solid foundation in Columbia with three trips to the SEC Tournament. Last season proved to be one of the most successful in school history. The South Carolina women’s soccer team finished the 2006 season with an 11-6-5 overall record including a 5-2-4 mark in the SEC. The five conference wins were the second-highest tally in school history. South Carolina ranked sixth in the Southeast Region in the final NSCAA regular season regional rankings. For the first time in school history, USC went undefeated at home with an 8-0-3 mark at Stone Stadium in 2006. The team’s cumulative goals against average of 0.69, was also the lowest ever tallied at Carolina.

Three players earned second team All-SEC honors (Courtney Cobbs, Ashley Kirk and Blakely Mattern). Mattern was also a second team Freshman All-America selection by Soccer Buzz as well as a second team All-Rookie selection by Top Drawer Soccer and an SEC All-Freshman team member. All three players were third team Soccer Buzz All-Region selections.

In addition to the success on the field, Coach Smith’s squad also was strong in the classroom last season as both senior defender Erin Geldhof and junior midfielder Annie Galloway earned Academic All-District honors with Galloway also named to the Academic All-America second team. It is the second straight season a Carolina player has earned Academic All-America honors. The squad also earned an NSCAA team academic award posting a team GPA above 3.0. This year’s team had 11 players named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll (Laura Armstrong, Kim Boulos, M.A. Foster, Annie Galloway, Erin Geldhof, Kimmy Gillespie, Monica Hogan, Kali Neumann, Erin Sullivan, Lindsay Thorstenson, Mary Worthen).

“I appreciate the support of (athletics director) Eric Hyman, Kevin O’Connell and the University of South Carolina,” said South Carolina head coach Shelley Smith. “We have worked very hard to build a program that the University can be proud of. We have produced outstanding student-athletes and role models in women’s soccer both on and off the field. We look forward to continuing our success in the future and becoming even more successful in the conference and nationally.”

The 2007 women’s soccer squad returns nine of 11 starters from last year and also boasts the fourth best recruiting class in the SEC as ranked by Soccer Buzz. The group of newcomers also ranked eighth in the Southeast. Carolina opens up its season on Saturday, Sept. 1 traveling to Chapel Hill, N.C. for a match with defending national champion North Carolina. The Gamecocks’ home opener is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 3 vs. East Tennessee State with kickoff set for 7 pm at Stone Stadium.

Shelley Smith came to Carolina in the spring of 2001. Under the direction of Smith, USC has posted a 56-49-15 record that includes three appearances in the SEC Tournament. Smith has coached several top student-athletes at Carolina including two-time All-SEC performers Melinda Carter, Jessica Julin, and Sarah Lentz. Julin is currently the captain of the Finland National Team and Carter played in the WUSA. The Gamecocks have had 13 players earn All-SEC selections in the last six years. Along with success on the field, Carolina’s women’s team has boasted strong marks in the classroom earning NSCAA College Team Academic Awards every season with her as head coach. The cumulative GPA for Carolina’s women’s team has been above 3.0 every year since 2001. In addition, USC defender Kimmy Criss received CoSIDA Academic All-America honors last year (2005) and was a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District selection along with teammate Amanda Thurber.

In nine years as a head coach, Smith has compiled an overall record of 97-84-17. Besides her collegiate coaching, Smith was a member of the Region III ODP staff for the past five years, as well as an assistant for the ’90 Regional Team. Smith also was a member of the U-14 National Camp staff for U.S. Soccer in 2003.With a background in both semi-professional and collegiate soccer, Smith previously served as head coach at Rhode Island from 1997-2000.

Smith is married to USC associate head coach Jamie Smith. They have two sons, Braden and Evan.