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Aug. 8, 2012

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By Miquel Jacobs
Assistant Media Relations Director

#24 South Carolina vs #2 Duke | Thursday, August 9 | 6 p.m.
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COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 24 South Carolina begins its 2012 season with a Thursday night exhibition against No. 2 Duke at Stone Stadium with kickoff scheduled for 6 p.m. NOTE: Kickoff has been moved up to 6 p.m. to avoid possible weather issues!

Admission is free for the match as fans will get their first look at the reigning SEC Champions. Fans can park in the Athletics Village Parking Garage adjacent to Stone Stadium on Heyward Street. Entrance to the stadium will be available at the Heyward Street entrance (Gate 1) and the Gate 3 entrance on the scoreboard side. The Whaley Street (Gate 2) entrance will be closed and unavailable for Thursday’s exhibition.

Duke comes to Columbia with a No. 2 preseason ranking after finishing as the national runner-up last year where the Blue Devils lost to Stanford in the College Cup final. Duke returns 22 letterwinners and all 11 starters from last season’s 22-4-1 campaign that included a 2-0 victory over the Gamecocks in Durham.

The Gamecocks won the 2011 SEC regular season and eastern division titles with a 9-2-0 record and moved to the NCAA Second Round for the third consecutive year – one of only three SEC programs to do so in that span. With a 16-7-0 record, Smith’s squad won its second piece of conference hardware in the past three years en route to her being named the NSCAA South Region Coach of the Year.

South Carolina returns six starters from last year’s team but will be without the services of First Team Freshman All-American, SEC Freshman of the Year and SEC Defensive Player of the Year Sabrina D’Angelo, who left Wednesday with the Canadian Under-20 Women’s National Team as preparations for the U20 Women’s World Cup get underway in Japan. D’Angelo will miss Thursday’s exhibition and the first four to six games of the regular season, depending on Canada’s run in the tournament.

Fans can meet the 2012 team and get signed posters at the Fan Appreciation Day scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 12 at 12:30 p.m. Season Tickets for the 2012 season are currently on sale. Ticket prices are $25 for adults and $10 for youth. They can be purchased at GamecocksOnline.com or by calling (800) 4SC-FANS.