Nov. 11, 2013
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina women’s soccer team earned its sixth trip to the NCAA Tournament in the last seven years as the 2013 selections of the 64-team field were announced Monday afternoon. The No. 3 seed Gamecocks (16-3-2) will host the first round of the tournament as they welcome Furman (17-3-2). It is just the second national seed in program history.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday night at Stone Stadium. It is the third time since 2009 that the Gamecocks have hosted an NCAA Tournament game.
It will be the 16th meeting all-time between the two sides, with South Carolina holding a 12-2-1 edge. The Gamecocks have won the last five contests.
Furman earned an automatic bid to the tournament after winning the Southern Conference tournament. The Paladins have won six-straight matches and also captured the SoCon regular season title with an 8-1-1 league mark.
The Gamecocks and Furman played three common opponents in 2013 – Clemson, Georgia and Mississippi State. The Paladins posted a 4-0 win at Mississippi State and dropped matches at Clemson (0-1) and Georgia (0-2). South Carolina recorded a 3-1-0 mark against the opponents with the lone loss coming on the road at Georgia. The Gamecocks avenged the defeat with a 4-0 victory over the Bulldogs at last week’s SEC Tournament.
South Carolina enters postseason play with a 16-3-2 record and was ranked No. 9 in the NSCAA national rankings last week, its third week being ranked in the poll’s Top 10 this season. The Gamecocks finished third in the SEC at 8-2-1. The squad finished the regular season with a .842 winning percentage, the best regular-season percentage in school history.
For the first time in program history, Carolina earned two wins over Top 10 teams, defeating then-No. 7 Duke, 1-0, in the second game of the season, before topping then-No. 8 Florida 2-1 in double overtime in Gainesville, Fla. At home this season, the Gamecocks are a perfect 10-0-0 this year, the first time in school history that they have won 10 games at home during a regular season.
Against this year’s 64-team-field, South Carolina has a 5-1-2 record, posting wins over Duke, Northeastern, Arkansas, Florida and Kentucky and picking up draws at Boston University and Ole Miss.
NCAA First Round – Stone Stadium – Columbia, S.C.
First Round – Friday, November 15
7 p.m. (3) South Carolina vs. Furman
Tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for children and students. The first 500 South Carolina students will receive free admission.
