No. 3 Gamecocks Fall To Wake Forest 3-2 On The Road
Aug. 24, 2017
No. 3 Women’s Soccer vs. Wake Forest
COLUMBIA, S.C. — No. 3 South Carolina women’s soccer suffered its first loss of the season Thursday night, falling to Wake Forest 3-2 at Spry Stadium. Gamecock senior striker Savannah McCaskill tallied two first-half goals for Carolina (2-1-0) in the setback.
A pair of goals in the early stages of the second half sparked the rally for Wake Forest (3-0-0), which entered the break trailing 2-1. Midfielder Bayley Feist opened the pivotal stretch in the 51st minute when she headed home a goal off a Wake Forest corner to even the score at 2-2. The Demon Deacons maintained momentum, and they pulled ahead 3-2 in the 62nd minute after a cross into the box from the right side found Wake Forest forward Hannah Betfort. The freshman’s one-timer snuck the ball inside the right post and gave her team the one-goal advantage with less than 30 minutes to play.
South Carolina produced two bids for an equalizer down the stretch, starting in the 75th minute when the Gamecocks were awarded a free kick near the top of the attacking third. McCaskill’s service into the box was unable to find a Carolina attacker, and the Demon Deacons cleared the danger away. In the 82nd minute, McCaskill looked for sophomore Elexa Bahr near the left side of the box, but Wake Forest goalkeeper Lindsay Preston came off her line and collected the ball.
Bahr, who finished the match with two shots, nearly gave Carolina a 3-2 lead in the 58th minute when she tried her luck from distance. The Buford, Ga., native’s dipping strike from the top right corner of the box headed towards net before sailing just over the top of the crossbar.
The Demon Deacons opened the scoring in the third minute after earning a penalty kick out of the gates. Wake Forest midfielder Maddie Huster netted the goal and converted from the spot with a shot that sent the ball into the left corner of the net.
Carolina quickly responded two minutes later on a brilliant strike from McCaskill from distance. The senior collected a pass in space and ripped a shot from well outside the box, driving the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal past Preston.
A defensive miscue from the Demon Deacons in the 24th minute led to McCaskill’s second tally of the first half. Wake Forest’s blunder left McCaskill with the ball in the box, and the attacker took a few dribbles to escape a pair of defenders before slotting it home from 10 yards away.
After conceding the early penalty kick, the Gamecock defense settled in and didn’t allow another shot for the remainder of the opening period. Carolina’s other quality scoring chance in the first half came in the eighth minute when McCaskill threaded a pass to Bahr near the right side of the box. The sophomore charged forward and fired a dangerous shot that called for a diving save from Preston.
South Carolina boasted a 9-6 shot advantage for the match and put five attempts on frame. Four of Wake Forest’s six attempts were put on target, and the Demon Deacons outshot the Gamecocks 5-3 over the final 45 minutes. Carolina sophomore goalkeeper Mikayla Krzeczowski notched one save in the loss, while McCaskill put all four of her shot attempts on target.
QUOTABLE
“Unfortunately, a few defensive mistakes cost us the game tonight. Credit to Wake Forest, who is a quality team that capitalized on those lapses we had. It was a good game between two good teams – we did very well at times but not good enough to find a way to win. We are looking forward to learning from this experience and bouncing back when we return home this weekend.” – South Carolina women’s soccer coach Shelley Smith
GAMECHANGER
Wake Forest capped off its second-half rally in the 62nd minute when forward Hannah Betfort one-timed a shot at the near post. The tally came 12 minutes after the Demon Deacons evened the score at two early in the second half.
KEY STAT
The Demon Deacons put four of their six shot attempts on goal in the victory over the Gamecocks. Three of their shots on goal came over the final 45 minutes of Thursday’s contest.
NOTABLE
- Thursday’s loss snapped South Carolina’s program-record six-match road winning streak that dated back to last season.
- Sophomore transfer Grace Fisk made her debut for the Gamecocks tonight after entering the match in the 22nd minute. The center back joined Carolina after playing her freshman campaign at Penn State.
- Gamecock senior attacker Savannah McCaskill’s performance against the Demon Deacons marked her first multi-goal game of the season. The Chapin, S.C., native logged five multi-goal matches last year.
- With two more goals, McCaskill moved three points away from 100 for her career. Her 97 points rank third all-time in program history.
UP NEXT
South Carolina returns to action this weekend when it hosts High Point on Sun., Aug. 27. Kickoff between the Gamecocks and Panthers is set for 7 p.m. ET.
