Aug. 29, 2010
By Miquel Jacobs
Media Relation Assistant
| Coach Smith Post-Game |
| South Carolina vs. Ohio Highlights |
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Sophomore Ali Glemser hit the game-winner and junior Kayla Grimsley notched a goal and assist to lead No. 13 South Carolina to a 2-0 shutout against Ohio in a Sunday afternoon match at Stone Stadium in front of 1,476 fans. With the win, South Carolina improves to 3-1-0 while the loss drops Ohio to 1-2-0.
Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award nominee Mollie Patton earned the shutout in goal with three saves, moving her career total to 25 clean sheets. She is now eight shy of tying the SEC record for career shutouts and nine short of setting it.
Glemser notched her second career goal in the 39th minute to put South Carolina ahead for good after receiving a feed from Grimsley in the box. Grimsley, a MAC Hermann Trophy Award candidate, then supplied the insurance goal at 78:00 with a vicious strike from the side of the goal to cap her three-point day. Grimsley has assisted on all three game-winning goals for South Carolina this season, tying the junior record for assists on game-winners in only the fourth game of the year while moving to second on the all-time list with seven game-winning assists in her career.
“Kayla’s a difference in the game for sure,” South Carolina head coach Shelley Smith said. “She’s a tremendous player. She draws so much attention that if it’s not her scoring, she’s helping others get chances. For her, sometimes we have to tell her to get more greedy. She’s setting up players all the time. On her goal today she made a great decision to finish herself. She’s capable of scoring goals and probably our best finisher. The way she put effort in today after working hard Friday night, you can tell she’s better than (last year).”
The Gamecocks never let up on the attack in a match where South Carolina held a 12-3 advantage in shots on goal. With a strong start to the game, Friday’s problem of not finishing opportunities seemed to remain a level of concern with multiple Gamecock looks in the opening stanza. In the 13th minute, Brooke Jacobs had a strike hit the far post with the Grimsley follow-up from six-yards out getting saved by Ohio goalkeeper Mattie Liston. The misfortune continued in the 35th minute after Grimsley beat the keeper for a sure goal but saw her shot bounce off the far post and out of the net.
It was three minutes later, however, when Grimsley fed the ball to Glemser, whose shot from nine yards out went into the back of the net at 38:04 to put Carolina on top. With the goal, Glemser has scored in back-to-back Sunday matches after scoring her first career goal in last Sunday’s 3-0 win at Northeastern.
The sophomore almost doubled her tally less than a minute later with a shot that went over the keeper but was headed off the line by a Bobcat defender.
“Ali has worked hard,” Smith said. “She’s one of our most fit players. It’s paying off for her. She gets in there and she works. She’s improved a lot since her freshman year. She’s grown in two years, getting playing time and making a difference in the game. I definitely commend Ali for coming in and doing what we needed her to do coming off the bench.”
In the second half, Grimsley began to flash her ball skills in search of the goal with strong looks that required great saves by Liston for Ohio. In the 50th, Maria Petroni fed a ball in the penalty area, but Grimsley’s shot was saved. In the 66th, a clearance by Patton took a high bounce before Grimsley chested it to the ground and flipped it to a streaking Jacobs, but her point-blank shot was again saved by Liston. It wasn’t until Grimsley’s strike from the side of the goal sailed over Liston that the Gamecocks were able to get the insurance goal.
In her fourth strong look of the night, Grimsley had a breakaway in the 84th that was thwarted by Liston to end the Gamecock threats as the clock wound down to double-zeros.
“I’ve been proud of the team’s performance all weekend,” Smith said. “Friday night was unfortunate but that was a challenge we had to bounce back against Ohio today to finish our chances and take it to them on our home field. We rotated a lot of players who went in and did their roles. That’s all we’re asking. We’re excited to be back home next weekend.”
South Carolina continues its six-game homestand next Sunday when the team hosts Arizona State. The fixture between the Gamecocks and Sun Devils will kick off at 1 p.m. Note: Game Time was rescheduled from its original 2 p.m. slot due to travel accommodations.
GAMECOCK COURTYARD CUP ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Taylor Vancil (GK), Louisville – MVP
Christine Exeter (D), Louisville
Caitlin Rehder (M), Louisville
Angelika Uremovich (M), Louisville
Kayla Grimsley (F), South Carolina
Kira Campbell (M), South Carolina
Elizabeth Sinclair (M), South Carolina
Caitlin Holtz (M), Bucknell
Megan DeGennaro (F), Bucknell
Sara Seitz (M), Ohio
Mattie Liston (GK), Ohio
