Oct. 30, 2013
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina will close out the regular season against Kentucky on Thursday night at Stone Stadium. Sitting at 14-2-2, the No. 10 Gamecocks look to send their senior class out with the best regular season winning percentage in program history and remain undefeated at home in 2013. Prior to the game, Danielle Au, Gabrielle Gilbert, Samantha Gonzalez, Sam McGowan, Abby Sams, Elizabeth Sinclair, Christine Watts and Rae Wilson will be recognized.
WEEKEND INFORMATION
Date/Opponent: Thursday, Oct. 31 vs. Kentucky
Kickoff: 7 p.m. ET
Live Stats | Live Video
Location: Columbia, S.C.
Stadium:Stone StadiumTickets: Tickets
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On the Horizon
Next up for the Gamecocks will be a quarterfinal matchup in the SEC Tournament on Nov. 6 in Orange Beach, Ala. Time and opponent will be determined following the conclusion of all conference games on Thursday night.
Scouting Kentucky
The Wildcats are coming off of a 3-1 win over LSU in Lexington last Sunday after falling to Missouri two days earlier on their home field, 2-1, in double overtime. Kentucky is currently one point back of the Gamecocks for third place in the conference.
Kentucky is led by the attacking trio of Arin Gilliland, Stuart Pope and Zoe Swift. The trio have accounted for 29 of the team’s 39 goals and 21 of the team’s 41 assists. Goalkeeper Kayla King enters the game with a 1.17 goals against average, 53 saves and has five shutouts on the season in 18 starts.
All-Time Vs. Kentucky
The Gamecocks are 6-12-1 all-time against the Wildcats, dropping their last two contests against their SEC counterpart. Kentucky won last year’s match 1-0 in Columbia.
Win and Wait
Sitting two points back of Florida and Texas A&M in the conference standings, South Carolina will need to win its game against Kentucky and look for some help to earn at least a share of the SEC title. The Gamecocks need both Florida and Texas A&M to either draw or lose their Thursday night matchups. Florida is at Georgia (6:30 p.m. ET) and Texas A&M is home against LSU (8 p.m. ET). Georgia and LSU are currently sixth and seventh in the conference and will look to lock up a Top-6 seed to earn a bye to the quarterfinals.
Gamecock Milestone
Against Alabama on Oct. 11, Head Coach Shelley Smith earned her 150th win at South Carolina. Since 2006, Smith has averaged just over 13 wins a season including a program-best 19 in 2009.
Welcome to the Graveyard
Since 2006, the Gamecocks have cultivated a home-field advantage at Stone Stadium that has help them win more than 78 percent of their games. During that time, the South Carolina is has a 61-14-7 record at home. This season, the Gamecocks are 9-0 at “The Graveyard”, allowing only three goals.
Back on Track
Following a tough road trip in which the team went 0-1-1, the Gamecocks got back to their winning way last weekend a with a 4-1 win over Vanderbilt at home before topping Mississippi State 1-0 two days later on the road.
Starting Fast
The Gamecocks raced out to a 3-0 lead against Vanderbilt less than 15 minutes into the game on Oct. 25. The fast start began with Taylor Leach’s second goal of the season at the 1:32 mark, the fifth fastest goal in school history. Freshman Chelsea Drennan assisted on all three goals to tie the school record for the most assists in a single game.
