April 15, 2014

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina women’s soccer head coach Shelley Smith has announced the team’s 2014 fall schedule. Coming off of one of the best seasons in program history in 2013, with a 17-4-2 record and finishing the year ranked No. 15, the Gamecocks will host four 2013 NCAA Tournament qualifiers and hit the road for two more in conference play.

That group of six does not include Duke, which Carolina will face in an exhibition match on Aug. 14 in Durham, N.C. The Blue Devils finished last season ranked No. 18 and reached the Elite Eight.

“Starting off at Duke for an exhibition game will be a great test as it has been in seasons past when we’ve played them early on, whether it’s been an exhibition or part of the regular season,” Smith said.

South Carolina will open the season on the road as the team travels to East Carolina on Aug. 22. The Gamecocks last opened a season in Greenville, N.C., in 2011 when they defeated the Pirates 4-0.

The Gamecocks will then be at home for their next five games, starting on Aug. 24 with Samford. The following weekend, Carolina will welcome Boston University, Milwaukee and College of Charleston to Columbia. The Gamecocks will host Boston U., on Aug. 29 and Milwaukee on Aug. 31.

“We’re looking forward to hosting our tournament, having BU return again,” Smith added. “We’ve done a home and away with them the last couple years and we’ve also played Milwaukee away so it’s good to have them here. Both teams being NCAA Tournament teams and playing in front of our fans should make for an exciting week.”

On Sept. 5, South Carolina will host Clemson at The Graveyard, in the annual rivalry game. The Gamecocks came away with a 2-1 win this past season at Clemson. A matchup with High Point on Sept. 7 will complete the home portion of Carolina’s non-conference schedule.

“To host Clemson again, it’s always an exciting matchup, and on a Friday, it should highlight another exciting weekend,” Smith added. “We’ve had a Carolina Cup in the past and having High Point come in on Sunday will give it that type of atmosphere.”

A pair of matches in Tampa, Fla., at USF’s Corbett Soccer Stadium will complete the non-conference slate as South Carolina will play the host, USF, on Sept. 12 and FGCU on Sept. 14.

“Going to Tampa will be a new adventure for us, with both teams giving us good competition,” Smith said. “Both are capable of doing good things in their conferences so they will be a challenge away from home and prepare us for going on the road in the SEC.”

As they did in 2013, the Gamecocks will open the SEC season on the road again, this time traveling to Auburn on Sept. 19 for their only match of the weekend. A week later, the Gamecocks will play host to the only two teams to defeat them during the 2013 regular season as Missouri comes to Stone Stadium on Sept. 26, with Georgia following on Sept. 28.

The start of October will see Carolina split up its weekend with a road match at Alabama before returning to Columbia and hosting LSU, a team they did not face in 2013, two days later.

A road trip to Lexington, Ky., on Oct. 10 to play the Wildcats will be the last weekend on the conference schedule in which teams will only play one game. 2013 co-conference champion Florida (Oct. 17) and Ole Miss (Oct 19) are slated to visit Columbia the following week. The three games will be the longest stretch of the season in which the Gamecocks will face consecutive opponents which qualified for the 2013 NCAA Tournament, with all three reaching the second round.

Carolina will take its longest road trip of the season in its final trip away from home as the squad heads to Nashville, Tenn., for a Friday night match with Vanderbilt on Oct. 24. They will follow that up with a Sunday game in College Station, Texas against 2013 co-conference champion Texas A&M. Senior night on Oct. 30 versus Mississippi State will conclude the regular season.

“As far as the SEC season, it will be nice to have a few weekends that are not Friday/Sunday,” Smith said. “It opens up a little bit with only playing Auburn on the first weekend and Kentucky on the other open weekend, but as always, the Friday/Sunday weekends will be difficult. I think we have a good mix of home and away matches. We play A&M again away this year. It will be a tough test at the end of the season, but hopefully we’ll be in place this year to play them for a conference championship since we didn’t have that opportunity last year.”

The SEC Tournament will begin on Nov. 2 and run through Nov. 9 at the Orange Beach Sportsplex in Orange Beach, Ala.

The SEC Network will carry a full slate of women’s soccer games, both on the its channel and on its digital platform. The schedule for these games will be released at a later date. The SEC Network launches on Aug. 14.

2014 Schedule