Oct. 8, 2013

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Taking six points on the road in a weekend is never an easy task, especially when that requires trips to the Gainesville, Fla., and Knoxville, Tenn., but the South Carolina women’s soccer team did just that. The Gamecocks 2-1 defeat of No. 8 Florida with less than 90 seconds remaining in the second overtime on Friday night, followed by another overtime match in a 1-0 win at Tennessee on Sunday, Carolina’s weekend will go down as one of the best in the program’s 19-year history.

After the results, the Garnet and Black have maintained a steady increase back up the rankings, highlighted by a six-spot jump in the NSCAA/Continental Tire Rankings to No. 13. Despite being one spot behind the Gators in the national poll, the Gamecocks supplanted their rival for the top spot in the South Region.

In the latest RPI, South Carolina moved up one spot to No. 8. Soccer America has the Gamecocks at No. 15 while TopDrawerSoccer has them at No. 16. Other rankings include No. 10 from College Sports Madness, No. 13 from Soccer Times and No. 16 from Our Game Magazine.

The jump in the rankings was aided by redshirt junior Taylor Leach’s late-game heroics against Florida as she headed in the game-winner. The win was South Carolina’s second this season over a Top 10 opponent, the first time in school history that the feat has been accomplished, along with becoming the first team in SEC history to knock-off the Gators in consecutive trips to Gainesville.

For her goal and her defensive efforts in marking two of the most dangerous strikers in the conference, Leach was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week, along with earning a place on both TopDrawerSoccer’s Team of the Week and CS360’s Primetime Performers Weekly Honor Roll.

Leach and the Gamecocks (11-1-1, 4-1-0) return to action Friday night as they host Alabama (5-7-0, 3-2-0) in their only game of the weekend. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET at Stone Stadium.