Aug. 18, 2015
2014 Rewind
Led by two-time All-American Sabrina D’Angelo, the 2014 South Carolina women’s soccer team boasted another successful campaign between the pipes. The Gamecocks’ 13 clean sheets last fall ranked second in program history for shutouts in a season, and their goals against average (0.682) stood as the third-lowest mark ever.
D’Angelo totaled 10 shutouts before a wrist injury kept her out of the final three games of the season. Freshman Abbey Crider replaced D’Angelo and earned her first career shutout against Seattle to send the Gamecocks to the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 16.
Crider tallied another clean sheet in South Carolina’s 1-0 win over No. 6 North Carolina for a Gamecock team that boasted a scoreless streak of 342 minutes in the NCAA Tournament.
Coach Smith’s Take
“It’s hard to replace someone like Sabrina, but we have some experience as well as some youth that will be capable of making this a solid position for us once again. We are looking for good things to come from all of them.”
The Returnees
Crider headlines the group of the three South Carolina goalkeepers returning in net this fall. The Pinehurst, N.C., native saw time in four matches last season, earning shutouts in two of them. She made her debut in a 2-0 win over Ole Miss (Oct. 19), making two saves in 56 minutes of work. Crider recorded two saves in PKs against Seattle in the NCAA Tournament, and she made three saves against No. 6 North Carolina to help the Gamecocks reach the Elite Eight.
Junior Katelyn Houston and senior Emily Ball round out the two other returning goalkeepers from last season’s team. Neither saw any time on the pitch, and Ball was declared medically ineligible for the 2015 season.
The Newcomers
South Carolina welcomes two new goalkeepers to its program in 2015, including two-time ACC Honor Roll selection Caroline Kelly. The senior transferred to South Carolina from Virginia Tech, where she ranks first in career goals against average (0.628) and second in save percentage (.803). Her seven shutouts in 2014 matched a school record for the most in a season.
Freshman Hunter Peifer marks the other new addition in net for the Gamecocks this fall. She enters her first season in Columbia after taking part in the U-20 U.S. Women’s National Team Camp last fall. Peifer earned four varsity letters while playing at Cheyenne Mountain, and she conceded just 17 goals in 3,312 minutes of action.
