Oct. 13, 2011

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By Miquel Jacobs
Assistant Media Relations Director

South Carolina at Mississippi State | Friday, 8 p.m.

Live Stats | Live Webcast | Game Notes

South Carolina at Ole Miss | Sunday, 2 p.m.

| Live Webcast (Paid) | Game Notes

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina returns to the road for their next three games beginning with a weekend trip to the Magnolia State to take on Mississippi State and Ole Miss. The Gamecocks travel to Starkville for a Friday night clash against the Bulldogs before taking on the Rebels Sunday afternoon.

The Gamecocks are unbeaten against both Mississippi schools since the 2005 season. South Carolina holds a 6-4-2 series advantage against Mississippi State with the two draws coming in Carolina’s last two trips to Starkville in 2007 and 2009. SC took a 7-0 victory last season in Columbia with a Brooke Jacobs hat trick. Carolina’s lone win at MSU was a 1-0 victory in 2003.

The Gamecocks are 7-3-2 all-time against Ole Miss and have won the last four meetings. South Carolina has scored three goals in three of the last four matches against the Rebels.

ON THE HORIZON
The Gamecocks split next weekend with a road trip to Baton Rouge on Thursday before returning home Sunday to take on Arkansas. Sunday’s match is the final home game of the season and will serve as Senior Day for South Carolina’s eight seniors.

SCOUTING MISSISSIPPI STATE
Mississippi State has rounded into form lately with seven goals in their last four matches, including two in a shutout of No. 20 Auburn in the last match they’ve played at home. The team is led in scoring by Jasmine Simmons (4g, 1a, 9p) and Elisabeth Sullivan (3g, 3a, 9p). Junior Skylar Rosson sports a 1.68 goals against average with a league-high 86 saves.

SCOUTING OLE MISS
Ole Miss brings a 5-8-1 record into the weekend and have seven players that have scored multiple goals this season. Sophomore transfer Rafaelle Souza leads the team with nine goals and seven assists for 25 points, but missed the last game for the Rebels after only playing the opening 38 minutes at Tennessee. Senior Dylan Jordan has also played well with a hat trick against the Vols to bring her total to six goals and two assists for 14 points. Mandy McCalla and Jenna Strother both have three goals for the Rebels. Two players have split time in goal in senior Alley Ronaldi (1.51 GAA, 41 saves) and freshman Kelly McCormick (1.95 GAA, 31 saves).

CAROLINA VS THE SEC WEST
South Carolina historically has enjoyed greater success against SEC West foes than SEC East foes by the surprising note that the Gamecocks hold the series advantage against all six SEC West schools but does not have the advantage against any of the SEC East schools. The Gamecocks are 46-20-13 (.665) all-time against the West with series’ against Alabama (10-3-0), Arkansas (8-3-1), Auburn (7-5-3), LSU (7-2-5), Ole Miss (7-3-2) and Mississippi State (6-4-2). In contrast, South Carolina is 20-66-10 (.260) against SEC East schools.

GRIMSLEY HITS ANOTHER MILESTONE
Senior Kayla Grimsley became the second Gamecock to hit the 100-point milestone after scoring the first goal of the game at Georgia. Grimsley’s goal at 33:22 gave her 101 points in her career, and she now has a stat line of 39 goals and 29 assists for 107 points in 87 career games. Grimsley is the only active player in the SEC with over 100 career points and is tied for fifth on the NCAA active career points list.

SPREADING THE WEALTH
Seven players have scored South Carolina’s 25 goals this season, with five players scoring at least four on the year. Only three previous teams have at least five players scored four or more goals – the 1998 team that earned the first NCAA berth, the 2002 team that was Shelley Smith’s first to advance to the SEC Tournament, and the miraculous 2009 team that won the SEC Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Round of 16.
Kayla Grimsley, Danielle Au, Kortney Rhoades, Lolly Holland and Maria Petroni each have scored at least four goals, and Gabrielle Gilbert is right behind with three scores on the year. The 1998 team was the only team to finish with six players at four goals or more.

SHUTOUT DEFENSE
Defense has been the calling card for Shelley Smith’s Gamecocks, and the 2011 season shows early signs of continuing that character trait despite the abundance of youth in the regular rotation. South Carolina has posted shutouts in six of its 10 wins and leads the SEC with 12 goals against, a 0.77 goals against average and a 82.6 save percentage.

SET PIECE SOUTH CAROLINA
The Gamecocks have seen a lot of their success this season come on set pieces off the play of freshman Ali Whitney and senior Kayla Grimsley. Five of South Carolina’s 10 goals in their current three-match winning streak were the result of corner kicks or throw-ins by the duo with Maria Petroni being the benefactor twice with early first half goals against Vanderbilt and Auburn off of Whitney’s corners.

GILBERT GOES FOR GOLD
Sophomore Gabrielle Gilbert has proven to be a valuable and flexible player for the Gamecocks this year. After spending the 2010 season as the teams’ top backline reserve, Gilbert has expanded that role into one of the top field players in general. The Canadian has seen regular action at forward, midfield and defender this year and will continue to play all three positions. Despite the instability of a set position, she manages to sit sixth on the team with three goals and two assists for eight points.

AU SO GOOD
Sophomore Danielle Au was named to the Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week after her six-point weekend that saw her score three goals in wins against Alabama and No. 22 Auburn. Au had her first career multi-goal game with two scores the Crimson Tide.