Sept. 19, 2014
No. 14 South Carolina (7-1-0) opens SEC play at Auburn (6-2-0) on Sunday in each team’s first conference match. The 1 p.m. ET contest at the Auburn Soccer Complex will be televised nationally on the SEC Network and is South Carolina’s first non-football broadcast on the newly launched network. The Gamecocks have won all three of their matches away from Stone Stadium in 2014 and will look to start conference play with a win for the first time since 2011.
SEC OPENER INFORMATION
Date/Opponent: Sun., Sept. 21 at Auburn
Kickoff: 1 p.m. ET
Stadium: Auburn Soccer Complex
Broadcast: SEC Network
Live Stream: SEC Network+, through WatchESPN
SEC Network Information | Channel Finder
SCOUTING AUBURN
Auburn (6-2-0) was riding a five-game winning streak and had entered the NSCAA Top 25 for the first time since 2012 until dropping a 2-1 result to Samford last Friday. The Tigers got back to their winning ways on Sunday with a 2-0 win over Milwaukee.
The Tigers have employed a balanced attack with six players scoring five or more points and 10 players scoring goals. Kristen Dodson leads Auburn with nine points on two goals and five assists. Ellie Leek and Logan Beal have tallied a team-leading three goals apiece. Auburn is outscoring their opponents 18-6, with freshmen logging seven of the team’s 18 goals. The Tigers lead the SEC in assists with 24, a total that ranks eighth nationally.
Alyse Scott has logged all 720 minutes in net, posting 16 saves and holding a 0.75 goals against average. Scott ranks second behind South Carolina’s Sabrina D’Angelo in the SEC with 4 shutouts.
SERIES HISTORY
South Carolina leads the all-time series with the Tigers 8-6-3, with the Gamecocks taking four of the last five. Last year, Auburn fell to the Gamecocks in Stone Stadium with Danielle Au and Stevi Parker scoring in the 2-1 result. Casie Ramsier added a late goal for Auburn in the 89th minute.
COMMON GROUND
The Gamecocks and Tigers have faced three common opponents in non-conference play this season – Samford, Milwaukee and Clemson. South Carolina opened its home slate with a 2-0 win over Samford (Aug. 24), while Auburn fell to the Bulldogs 2-0 last weekend. Both defeated Milwaukee, with each team posting 2-0 results. Clemson took down both the Gamecocks (1-0) and the Tigers (2-1).
STATE OF DEFENSE
For the second-straight season, the Gamecocks moved through non-conference play allowing just one goal (vs. Clemson, Sept. 5). Playing what the NCAA ranks as the 23rd-toughest schedule, South Carolina is second in the nation with a 0.123 goals against average. The Gamecocks and Stanford are the only Division I teams to record seven shutouts this season, and just three teams – No. 1 UCLA, No. 4 Stanford and No. 14 South Carolina – have allowed one goal or less. No other SEC team has more than four shutouts or has allowed less than four goals.
D’ANGELO, MCCASKILL GARNER RECOGNITION IN WEEK 4
For their performances in a pair of shutout road victories over USF and FGCU in Tampa, Fla., senior goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo and freshman forward Savannah McCaskill earned SEC weekly honors. D’Angelo posted her 25th and 26th career shutouts over the weekend and collected a season-high seven saves against USF. D’Angelo was also named National Defensive Player of the Week by College Sports Madness and was an honorable mention on the TopDrawerSoccer.com Team of the Week. McCaskill scored her much-awaited first career goal in the 82nd minute against FGCU. She also recorded an assist against USF for her first multi-point weekend of the season.
UP NEXT FOR THE GAMECOCKS
The Gamecocks return home after three matches on the road to host Missouri in the SEC home opener on Fri., Sept. 26, at 6 p.m. and Georgia on Sun., Sept. 28, at 1 p.m.
