Aug 29, 2013
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina women’s soccer hits road this weekend with a trip to Boston, Mass., to face Boston University on Friday at 7:30 p.m., before taking on Northeastern on Sunday at 1 p.m.
WEEKEND INFORMATION
Date/Opponent: Friday, Aug. 30 at Boston University
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. ET
Location: Boston, Mass.
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Date/Opponent: Sunday, Sept. 1 at Northeastern
Kickoff: 1 p.m. ET
Location: Brookline, Mass.
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On the Horizon
After a weekend in Boston, Mass., the Gamecocks will end their three-game road swing the following weekend with a Palmetto State clash with Clemson on September 6 before returning home to host SMU on Sunday.
Scouting Boston University
The Terriers went 1-1-0 on the first weekend, winning their opener 1-0 against Dayton before falling 1-0 at Boston College. BU returns 10 starters from the 2012 team which finished 12-6-1 and went undefeated (8-0-0) in the America East and won the regular season conference title for the sixth-straight season.
Scouting Northeastern
The Huskies opened the season in California where they suffered defeats from No. 5 UCLA, 4-0, and Loyola Marymount, 1-0. Northeastern is coming off a year in which it finished 9-9-1 overall and finishing 7-3-0 in the Colonial Athletic Conference and reached the quarterfinals of the CAA tournament.
Flying Into the Rankings
After going 2-0 on the opening weekend of the 2013 season and upsetting No. 7 Duke, the Gamecocks, which were unranked and not receiving votes to start the season, jumped to No. 11 in SoccerAmerica, No. 23 in SoccerTimes and are now receiving votes in the NSCAA/Continental Tire College Rankings.
Au Named SEC Offensive Player of the Week
With a pair of game-winning goals last weekend senior forward Danielle Au was selected as the Southeastern Conference’s Offensive Player of the Week.
D’Angelo, Sinclair Garner National Attention
D’Angelo’s back-to-back shutouts and seven total saves to open the season earned her a spot on the TopDrawerSoccer.com Team of the Week. Sinclair’s overall performance in the midfield on the weekend landed on CollegeSoccer360.com’s CS360 Primetime Performers Weekly Honor Roll.
Freshmen Impact
Through two games, the stellar 2013 recruiting which included five four-star recruits is already making their presence felt. Both midfielder Chelsea Drennan and forward Sophie Groff started each of the first two games, while Drennan notched a pair of assists in the opener, forward Daija Griffin assisted on the game-winner against No. 7 Duke.
Back For More
Head Coach Shelley Smith’s 2013 team returns nine starters from last season and 20 players total. Highlighting the returners is All-SEC goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo. The junior earned the honor after spending the early part of the 2013 season with the U-20 Canadian National Team at the U-20 Women’s World Cup.
Quartet Named to SEC Watch List
In the SEC’s third annual preseason watch list, four Gamecocks were included on the list. Selected were senior forward Danielle Au and midfielder Elizabeth Sinclair, and junior goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo and defender Christa Neary.
Nationally Recognized
After anchoring team Canada’s defense at the U-20 Women’s World Cup, Gamecock junior Sabrina D’Angelo was named the 2012 Canadian U-20 Player of the year last December. Canada went 1-2-0 and finished third in Group C behind North Korea and Norway. D’Angelo registered 16 saves, one shutout and stopped a penalty kick against Norway in the tourney.
South Carolina In Season Openers
South Carolina holds an all-time record of 11-5-3 in season openers. Four games have gone to overtime – College of Charleston (2001), Clemson (2003), UNC Wilmington (2008) and UW-Milwaukee (2012). In home contests, the Gamecocks boast a perfect 7-0 record, outscoring opponents 21-2. When heading on the road to open the season, Carolina carries an even 4-4-3 record overall. The Gamecocks are 1-2 against ranked opponents, falling to #20 and #13 ranked teams but defeating #1 UNC in 2007. Under Coach Smith, the Gamecocks have gone 8-2-3 in season openers.
