Gamecocks Battle Wisconsin At Home In Second Round Of NCAA Tournament
Nov. 16, 2017
#1 Seed Women’s Soccer vs. Wisconsin
COLUMBIA, S.C. — No. 1 seeded South Carolina women’s soccer (16-2-1) is set to host Wisconsin (14-5-2) in the second round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament on Fri., Nov. 17. Kickoff from Stone Stadium is slated for 6 p.m. ET, and the match can be seen on SEC Network+. Friday’s contest will mark the first meeting between the two schools.
The Gamecocks will also welcome Vanderbilt and Santa Clara to Columbia for the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Commodores and Broncos kick off Friday’s action with their match at 3 p.m. ET, and the winners of the two matches will play in the NCAA Sweet 16 at Stone Stadium on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET.
FROM THE COACH
“We’re thrilled to be at home, especially with our fan base here. We have a lot of pride playing at Stone Stadium. Wisconsin is a great team, and they have a great body of work. They’re tough, and we know it’s going to be a battle. They are a scrappy team that sends a lot of numbers forward. They have some creative offensive players, and they can finish chances. We need to do a good job of protecting our 18-yard box when they have set pieces.” — South Carolina women’s soccer coach Shelley Smith
SCOUTING WISCONSIN
Wisconsin cruised past Toledo in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament last Friday after netting five goals in the second half en route to a 5-0 victory. All five tallies came in a span of 19 minutes, and the Badgers finished the match with a 24-5 shot advantage. Friday’s contest against the fifth-ranked Gamecocks will mark Wisconsin’s fifth match against a ranked foe in 2017. It will be the third game against a top-five foe for the Badgers, who notched a 1-0 victory over No. 3 Virginia on Aug. 31.
Sophomore forward Dani Rhodes leads Wisconsin in goals (11), assists (5) and points (27), while freshman attackers Lauren Rice (13) and Cameron Murtha (11) mark the two other players on the team with double-digit points this season. Redshirt senior goalkeeper Caitlyn Clem has appeared in net in all 21 matches for the Badgers, who sport a 0.78 goals against average on the year. Wisconsin’s 6.33 corner kicks per match rank 20th in Division I, and the team’s 6.86 shots on goal per game lead all Big Ten schools.
This season marks the 20th NCAA Tournament appearance for the Badgers. Wisconsin, which holds an all-time tournament mark of 16-18-2, has qualified for the event in each of the last two years.
LAST TIME OUT
South Carolina posted a dominant 3-0 victory over Alabama State in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament last Friday night at Stone Stadium. The Gamecocks, who moved to 16-2-1 on the season with the win, received goals from freshmen Ryan Gareis and Bianca Galassini and sophomore Elexa Bahr.
Carolina outshot the Lady Hornets 31-2 and attempted each of the game’s 13 corner kicks after spending the majority of the contest in its attacking third.
Gareis opened the scoring in the third minute after deflecting the ball into the net following a shot from the top of the box by sophomore defender Grace Fisk, and Galassini stretched the lead to 2-0 less than 20 minutes later when she converted from short range after receiving a cross from Bahr. Bahr provided the exclamation point, one-timing a shot at the far post in the 50th minute following a corner kick by Lindsey Lane.
SOUTH CAROLINA IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
This season marks Carolina’s 11th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and the 10th time in the last 11 years it has reached the event. The Gamecocks, who have advanced to the second round in four of the last five years, sport a mark of 10-9-3 in NCAA Tournament games and a 3-3 record in round two. Carolina is 8-3-1 in the NCAA Tournament when facing a team at Stone Stadium, and 10 of its 11 NCAA Tournament appearances have come under coach Shelley Smith. The Gamecocks are 12-2-0 against teams that qualified for the 2017 NCAA Tournament.
WE’RE NUMBER ONE
South Carolina earned the program’s second-straight NCAA Tournament No. 1 seed during the selection show on Nov. 6. This season marks the fourth time the Gamecocks headed into the NCAA Tournament with a national seed. Carolina, which was a No. 2 seed in 2009 and a No. 3 seed for the 2013 NCAA Tournament, garnered the school’s first top seed last fall.
STAYING POWER
South Carolina was listed at No. 5 in the final United Soccer Coaches Poll of the regular season. The Gamecocks, who have been ranked inside the top-five in 10 of this season’s 12 weeks, have been positioned in the top-15 in each of the last 23 installments of the poll dating back to last year. South Carolina has earned a top-10 ranking 20 times over that stretch. The Gamecocks entered the fall with the program’s highest preseason spot after being listed at No. 4 in August.
PROTECT YOUR BOX
The Gamecocks have been especially stingy in the NCAA postseason, conceding just one goal in their last five tournament matches in a stretch that dates back to last year. Carolina has allowed three or less shots on target three times in those five matches, holding an opponent to zero attempts on frame twice over that time.
CHAMPIONSHIP CONTEXT
Carolina’s win over Florida in the regular-season finale (Oct. 26) secured the fourth SEC Championship in program history. The Gamecocks won the 2009 SEC Tournament before finishing atop the league standings in 2011, 2016 and 2017. Carolina is the fifth school in league history to notch back-to-back SEC Regular-Season Titles. The Gamecocks are the first program to accomplish the feat since Texas A&M won the 2013 and 2014 conference championships.
A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN
The Gamecocks finished SEC play unbeaten (9-0-1) for the second-straight year following last month’s victory over the Gators. Carolina trailed in just one conference match in 2017 and won by a margin of two goals or more four times throughout its league slate. The Gamecocks, who are unbeaten in their last 23 SEC regular-season matches, became the second school in league history to notch 20-straight wins in conference play with their victory over Missouri on Oct. 19. Carolina has outscored opponents 44-6 during its 23-game unbeaten streak.
DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS
South Carolina’s defense paved the way to its second-consecutive SEC Regular-Season Title. The Gamecocks conceded just three goals in league action and earned a shutout in eight of its 10 conference matches. Carolina did not allow more than three shots on goal to any conference foe, and its 0.29 goals against average during league play led the SEC. The Gamecocks, who have registered a clean sheet in 12 of their last 16 matches, rank 10th in NCAA Division I with a league-best 0.46 goals against average for the year. Carolina boasts 16 shutouts in league play since the start of the 2016 season.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
Carolina’s freshman class has made an instant impact on the Gamecock attack, accounting for 14 of the team’s 33 goals in 2017. A freshman has notched the game-winner in six of South Carolina’s 16 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 seven games, ranks third on the team with 11 points. Zullo and first-year midfielder Bianca Galassini‘s four goals each stand as the third-best mark on the team, while fellow newcomer Breukelen Woodard is one of four Gamecocks with multiple assists on the year. Freshman attacker Ryan Gareis has netted three goals this season, two of which have resulted in the game-winner.
HOMEFIELD ADVANTAGE
Since 2013, South Carolina boasts a record of 49-6-2 in matches played at “The Graveyard”. The Gamecocks recorded the program’s first undefeated home season (11-0-0) in 2013, and they notched their 150th victory at Stone Stadium earlier this season following a win over Florida Gulf Coast on Aug. 20. Carolina, which has gone 156-55-13 (.725) overall at the venue, posted the program’s fourth regular-season unbeaten record (7-0-1) following its draw against Georgia on Oct. 22. The Gamecocks sport a mark of 21-1-1 at home since the start of the 2016 season, registering 16 shutouts over that time.
SENIOR SUPERLATIVES
This year’s senior class has enjoyed one of the best four-year stretches in school history. The Gamecocks have qualified for the NCAA Tournament in each of the last four seasons, reaching the Elite Eight twice during that time. Carolina’s 62 wins since 2014 are the second-most in a four-year period in program history, and the senior class has collected 15 victories over ranked opponents during its time in Columbia.
RAISING THE BAHR
Gamecock forward Elexa Bahr has enjoyed a productive sophomore campaign after netting a team-best eight goals over the first 19 games of season. The Buford, Ga., native’s four game-winners are tied for first on the team, and her eight tallies are seven more than she had all of last season. Her 17 points stand as the second-best total on Carolina in 2017.
UP NEXT
The winner of Friday’s NCAA Tournament second-round match between the Gamecocks and Badgers will face either Vanderbilt or Santa Clara in the NCAA Sweet 16 on Sun., Nov. 19 in Columbia, S.C. This weekend’s contest at Stone Stadium, which gets underway at 2 p.m. ET, can be seen on SEC Network+.
