Nov. 8, 2013
ORANGE BEACH, Ala. – Two early counter attacks were the difference as No. 9 South Carolina (16-3-2) fell, 2-1, to No. 21 Texas A&M in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament at the Orange Beach Sportsplex.
“It was a good match,” head coach Shelley Smith said. “Texas A&M is a great team. They showed how strong they are offensively. They definitely hurt us in that first half. We got caught and they punished us for a couple of things that we didn’t do as well as we should have. I thought our team stayed strong and came back and played a much better second half. Unfortunately, we just didn’t get as many looks as we would have liked, but it was a good game overall. We unfortunately needed one more. I thought we had a good chance to tie it up there, but we just ran out of time.”
The Aggies came flying out the gates, pushing the pace and looking for counters. Leading scorer Shea Groom took the ball straight up the middle, struck a low left-footed shot toward the right side. Junior goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo dove to her left to make the fingertip save, but striker Liz Keester was there to pounce on the rebound to give the Aggies the early lead.
Just over six minutes later, Texas A&M capitalized on another counter attack, this time down the right flank on a long ball to Bianca Brinson. The speedy forward took the ball down the line, cut inside and slotted a pass to Keester in the middle from eight yards out for her second goal of the match.
In the 25th minute, the Gamecocks got one back as they worked the ball down the left side. Sophomore forward Coryn Bajema was able to slide a pass over to fellow sophomore Raina Johnson near the end line. The midfielder hit a quick shot that was deflected up in the air toward goal. Aggie keeper was Jordan Day was able to catch the ball, but not before it was ruled to have crossed the goal line. It was Johnson’s team-leading ninth of the season.
Texas A&M would take the one-goal lead into the half along with a 9-4 shot advantage.
Needing a goal in the second half to equalize, South Carolina ramped up its physical presence in the second leading to one big collision after another that led to a battle of attrition through the final 45 minutes. The Gamecocks though were unable to find the tally they were looking for despite all of the pressure they caused.
“We played better in that second half,” Smith added. “If we had come out and done some things early on and didn’t give up those two early goals, it changes the game. We had to play with being down and trying to come back. I give a lot of credit to both teams. It was a hard-fought match and our players haven’t given up all season; they play to the final whistle. I’m very proud of them. That game could have gone either way. [Texas A&M] is a team that leads the SEC in shots and we’re a team that doesn’t. We didn’t give them great chances besides the ones they scored, but we have to not give up those goals. I was proud of the team’s effort and we are ready for more postseason play.”
Texas A&M would finish the game with a 16-9 shot advantage, holding an 8-3 edge in shots on goal.
The Gamecocks will now await the NCAA Selection Show on Nov. 11 at 4:30 p.m. ET to find out their next opponent.
