Oct. 31, 2012
ORANGE BEACH, ALA. – Tenth-seeded South Carolina (7-10-4) fell to second-seeded Texas A&M (17-3-1) in overtime 1-0 on Wednesday afternoon in Orange Beach, Ala., in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament. Texas A&M junior midfielder Jayne Eadie scored the golden goal in the 94th minute.
“I am very proud of the team’s performance. Credit to Texas A&M to get the goal they needed. That’s what the SEC Tournament is all about. We battled against one of the top teams in the country. It’s just unfortunate that we’re finishing our season now. I wish we could play another day, but we gave it our all and, overall, I was proud of the performance,” said South Carolina head coach Shelley Smith.
Freshman midfielder Stevi Parker led the Gamecocks, notching three shots, one coming on goal. Junior forward Danielle Au and freshman midfielder Raina Johnson both tallied two shots on the day. Sophomore goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo corralled two saves in the net.
Texas A&M sophomore forward Annie Kunz took three shots, one on goal, to lead the team. Senior midfielder Chelsea Jones sent off two shots and four other Aggies registered a shot. Sophomore goalkeeper Jordan Day recorded two saves in a shutout performance.
South Carolina generated opportunities early on but could not convert them into a goal. The Gamecocks lined up six set pieces, including four corner kicks, in the first 10 minutes of the match, and fired off two shots, the first by junior midfielder Elizabeth Sinclair and the second by Parker.
Texas A&M threatened in the 37th minute on a corner kick of their own. South Carolina cleared the initial threat out of the box, but the Aggies tracked it down and sophomore forward Bianca Brinson sent a header just wide of the goal.
While both teams ended the first half with four shots, neither team fired a shot on frame.
The Aggie’s Jones fired off the first shot on goal of the match in the 48th minute and Kunz took an even better look in the 52nd minute, but D’Angelo wrapped them both up to keep the match scoreless. Kunz had another great look at the goal just two minutes later on a breakaway. Sophomore forward Shae Groom crossed the ball over to a streaking Kunz, who chipped the shot just over the crossbar.
Parker launched the first Gamecock shot on goal in the 68th minute, but Day was there for the save to keep it scoreless. The second South Carolina shot on goal came from the foot of sophomore forward Lani Smith in the 87th minute as Smith played a cross from freshman Courtney Angotti-Smith.
With 50 seconds to go in regulation, the Aggies took a free kick from behind midfield. Eadie sent it into the box, but D’Angelo collected the ball before any damage could come from it.
In overtime, the Gamecocks again found themselves with a set piece early, this time on a free kick from sophomore defender Christa Neary in the 92nd minute. The Aggies were able to ward off the scoring threat. The ball went past the midline mark, and South Carolina tried to play the ball back to D’Angelo, but as she tried to wrap it up, the ball deflected off of her hand. Eadie controlled the ball and put it in the back of the net to move Texas A&M to the SEC Semifinals.
The loss ends the South Carolina season with a record of 7-10-4 (3-7-3 SEC).
