Oct. 20, 2010
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By Miquel Jacobs
Media Relations Assistant
| South Carolina at Arkansas | Thursday, 8 p.m. (ET) |
Live Stats | SC Game Notes  | ARK Game Notes |
COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 18 South Carolina hopes to finish the 2010 regular season with its first unbeaten road season as the Gamecocks travel to Arkansas for a Thursday night SEC tilt at Razorback Field. The match between the Gamecocks and Lady’Backs will kickoff at 8 p.m ET with South Carolina taking a 6-0-1 road record to Fayetteville.
THE NATION’S STINGIEST DEFENSE?
South Carolina’s backline has now limited nine consecutive opponents to four shots on goal or less, a streak that includes five road games, four home games and all SEC competition. All nine teams were also limited to 10 total shots or less.
ON THE HORIZON
South Carolina hosts LSU Sunday in a match televised nationally by ESPNU. The game between the Gamecocks and Tigers will kickoff at 1 p.m. (a change from the previous 3 p.m. start) and will mark the fourth televised match of the season for the Gamecocks.
THE ROAD TO ORANGE BEACH
South Carolina leads the SEC at 6-1-1 with 19 points, taking the top spot over Florida (6-1-1) due to tiebreakers. The Gamecocks clinched a berth in the SEC Tournament after last Sunday’s win against Tennessee coupled with Arkansas’s draw at Ole Miss. With three games remaining, the Gamecocks can finish anywhere from first to seventh in the league standings. The conference tournament is played at the Orange Beach Soccer Complex in Orange Beach, Ala., and takes the top eight teams in the standings.
SCOUTING ARKANSAS
Arkansas enters Thursday’s match ninth in the SEC standings with a 5-8-3 overall record and 2-4-2 SEC record. Unbeaten in their last three matches, Arkansas is led by senior Kelsey Allison’s six goals and 13 points. Senior Britni Williams sports a 1.35 goals against average with 94 saves and six shutouts. The Razorbacks have scored 10 goals in their last three matches after only scoring 10 in their first 13 games.
JACOBS QUESTIONABLE
South Carolina senior forward Brooke Jacobs is questionable with a hamstring injury suffered against Alabama. The senior missed Friday’s 1-0 loss to Georgia with sophomore Ali Glemser earning her first career start. Jacobs has only missed two games since the 2008 season – a span of 62 games for Carolina – with the Gamecocks dropping both of those contests by identical 1-0 score. Both missed games were due to leg injuries (Western Carolina, Sept. 21, 2008).
THE 10-10-30 CLUB
Junior Kayla Grimsley is one assist shy of becoming the first Gamecock to join the 10-10-30 club. Grimsley has 10 goals and nine assists for 29 points this season, numbers that pushes her to the top of the SEC list in goals, assists, points and game winning goals (4). In just her third season, Grimsley is already No. 2 in the South Carolina record books for career goals (31), assists (22) and points (85).
SENIOR CLASS SETS THE RECORD
The 2009 senior class left Columbia as the winningest senior class in program history, but the 2010 class took over that distinction after Sunday’s win against Tennessee. The Class of `09 held a 55-23-14 (.674) record, but the Class of `10 currently claims a career record of 56-20-11 (.707) and also has the chance to become the first class to advance to the NCAA Tournament all four years.
PATTON AT THE TOP OF THE NATION
Heading into the weekend, senior Mollie Patton sits sixth in the nation with eight solo shutouts. A Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award nominee, Patton’s 30 career shutouts leaves her three shy of tying the all-time SEC record of 33 set by Auburn’s Megan Rivera (2002-04). She is No. 3 on the list of active goalkeepers with 30 career shutouts behind Central Michigan’s Shay Mannino (31) and West Virginia’s Kerri Butler (39).
NATIONAL GAMECOCKS
Two Gamecocks find themselves among the nation’s top 25 in various statistics as we hit the end of the season. Junior Kayla Grimsley has proven to be one of the top distributionists in the country at No. 8 (9 assists) in the NCAA in assists. Grimsley is also 10th in the NCAA in points at 29. Senior goalkeeper Mollie Patton sits sixth in the nation in shutouts at 8 despite not earning a solo shutout in a 7-0 win against Mississippi State that saw three goalkeepers play. Patton is also 20th in the nation in goals against average (0.59).
