No. 3 Gamecocks Aim For SEC Title In Regular-Season Finale at No. 17 Florida
Oct. 25, 2017
#3 Women’s Soccer at #17 Florida
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — No. 3 South Carolina women’s soccer (14-1-1, 8-0-1 SEC) closes out regular-season play this week when it faces No. 17 Florida (13-4-0, 7-2-0 SEC) on the road on Thu., Oct. 26. Kickoff from Donald R. Dizney Stadium is slated for 7 p.m. ET, and the match will air on SEC Network. The Gamecocks enter Thursday’s contest on a 13-game unbeaten streak.
HERE’S THE DEAL
Each way South Carolina can win the SEC Regular-Season Title:
– A win over Florida
– A Texas A&M loss to Mississippi State Thursday
– A draw with the Gators coupled with a tie by the Aggies
How South Carolina can earn a share of the SEC Regular-Season Title:
– A loss to Florida and a tie by Texas A&M
SCOUTING FLORIDA
The Gators enter Thursday’s contest on a two-game winning streak after earning victories over Kentucky (2-0, Oct. 19) and No. 11 Tennessee (2-1, Oct. 22) last week. Florida sports a mark 6-1-0 in home matches this season in a stretch highlighted by a 3-2 victory over No. 1 Stanford on Aug. 25. The Gators are 3-1-0 against ranked opponents this year, and Thursday will mark their second match against a top-five foe in 2017.
Freshman attacker Deanne Rose leads Florida in points (19) and goals (8) this season, while redshirt senior midfielder Gabby Seiler paces the team with six assists to go with six tallies. The Gators rank fourth in the SEC with 31 goals, and their 28 assists stand as the fifth-best mark among conference members. Junior Kaylan Marckese and sophomore Susi Espinoza have split time in net for Florida, which boasts the third-best goals against average in the league.
South Carolina has won three of its last five matches against the Gators in a stretch that dates back to 2013. Florida leads the overall series with a record of 22-6-1.
LAST TIME OUT
South Carolina battled to a 1-1 draw against Georgia this past Sunday at Stone Stadium. Senior midfielder Lindsey Lane registered her second goal of the season in the tie for the Gamecocks, who pushed their unbeaten streak to 13 matches with the result against the Bulldogs.
Lane opened the scoring in the 34th minute after the Gamecocks were awarded a penalty kick. Georgia was called for a foul in the box when a Bulldog defender pulled down Carolina’s Grace Fisk near the left post following a free kick from Gamecock senior attacker Savannah McCaskill. Lane lined up from the spot and calmly converted the penalty kick, slotting the ball into the heart of the net to give Carolina a 1-0 lead.
Georgia’s equalizer came in the final minute of regulation on a corner kick. Bulldog sophomore midfielder Daria Stan’s ball into the box floated dangerously towards goal before Gamecock sophomore goalkeeper Mikayla Krzeczowski punched it away. The deflection fell to Katie Ralys, and the freshman midfielder tapped it into the net to even the score at 1-1.
Carolina boasted a 21-9 shot advantage for the match and put 10 attempts on frame.
CLOSE CALLS
Nine of the last 10 matches between Carolina and Florida have been decided by one goal, and three of the last five contests have gone into overtime. The Gamecocks have won two of the three games that were decided by overtime, including a 1-0 victory last season at Stone Stadium when recent Carolina graduate Chelsea Drennan converted a penalty kick in the 103rd minute.
WE’RE NUMBER ONE
Carolina remained atop the Women’s Soccer RPI rankings this week, the NCAA announced Monday. The Gamecocks earned the program’s highest spot in the rankings after debuting at No. 1 on Sept. 18. South Carolina spent eight weeks ranked inside the RPI top-five last season, earning a top-three listing four times throughout the stretch.
Stanford (2), North Carolina (3), Duke (4) and West Virginia (5) rounded out the top-five in Monday’s ranking. The Gamecocks boast five wins against teams currently ranked inside the top-25 of the RPI, including three victories over schools listed in the top-15.
STAYING POWER
South Carolina stayed at No. 3 in Tuesday’s United Soccer Coaches Poll. The Gamecocks, who have spent eight weeks inside the top-five this season, have been positioned in the top-15 in each of the last 22 installments of the poll dating back to last year. South Carolina has earned a top-10 ranking 18 times over that stretch. The Gamecocks entered the fall with the program’s highest preseason spot after being listed at No. 4 in August.
A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN
Carolina became the second school in SEC soccer history to notch 20-straight victories in league play with its win over the Tigers on Oct 19. The Gamecocks are unbeaten in their last 22 matches in conference action, and they boast 15 clean sheets in league play since the start of the 2016 season. Carolina has outscored opponents 43-6 during its 22-game unbeaten streak.
REGULAR SEASON WARRIORS
Carolina boasts a mark of 31-1-2 over its last 34 regular-season matches in a stretch that dates back to the start of the 2016 season. The Gamecocks have recorded victories over seven ranked foes during that time, and 16 of their wins have come by at least two goals. Carolina, which has gone on a double-digit winning streak in each of the last two seasons, has outscored its foes 69-15 over the stretch.
GETTING DEFENSIVE
South Carolina has allowed a conference-best three goals in SEC play this season. The Gamecocks have notched clean sheets in 10 of their last 13 matches, allowing just four goals over that stretch. Carolina, which has conceded more than one goal just twice in 2017, ranks first in the league with a 0.49 goals against average for the season. The Gamecocks have yet to allow more than three shots on target in league play in 2017.
FRESHMEN FIREPOWER
Carolina’s freshman class has made an instant impact on the Gamecock attack, accounting for 12 of the team’s 29 goals in 2017. A freshman has notched the game-winner in five of South Carolina’s last 12 victories, and six first-year players have recorded a point this fall. Forward Luciana Zullo, who has registered a point in three of the last five games, ranks third on the team in game-winners (2), goals (4) and points (11). Midfielder Breukelen Woodard is one of four Gamecocks with multiple assists on the year, while fellow freshman Bianca Galassini is fourth on the team with three tallies. Newcomers Ryan Gareis and Lauren Chang also boast multiple goals in 2017.
COMING UP CLUTCH
With her goal in the sixth minute against Vanderbilt on Oct. 15, Gamecock attacker Savannah McCaskill moved into a tie with Jennie Ondo (1996-99) for the most game-winners (16) in program history. The senior standout, who set a single-year school record with 10 game-winning tallies in 2016, is tied for first in the SEC with three game-winners in league play this season.
UP NEXT
The Gamecocks open play at the 2017 SEC Soccer Championship in Orange Beach, Ala., on Tues., Oct. 31. Carolina’s quarterfinal opponent and the time of the match will be determined following Thursday’s regular-season finale.
