Gamecocks set for SEC Clash on Friday Night
#14 Women’s Soccer vs Auburn
COLUMBIA, S.C. — No. 14 South Carolina is set to face its third ranked opponent of the season on Fri., Sept. 28, against Auburn. The Gamecocks and the Tigers will kick off at 7:00 p.m. at Stone Stadium at 7:00 p.m. on SECN+.
LAST TIME OUT – MISSISSIPPI STATE AND KENTUCKY
No. 14 South Carolina (8-2-0, 2-1-0 SEC) continued its SEC season with matches against Mississippi State (8-2-0, 1-2 SEC) and Kentucky (4-8-0, 0-3-0 SEC) last weekend. The Gamecocks’ unbeaten streak of 24 matches was snapped in overtime by Mississippi State by a final score of 2-1. South Carolina bounced back quickly with a 3-0 victory over Kentucky back at Stone Stadium.
In the loss, Lauren Chang notched her team-leading fifth goal of the season when she scored on a penalty kick in the first half. Mississippi State used a penalty kick of its own to tie up the match and force overtime. In extra time, the Bulldogs were able to send the Gamecocks home with an SEC loss with a fantastic finish.
South Carolina returned home to take on Kentucky and used three first-half goals to secure a seventh victory at Stone Stadium this season.
Captain Grace Fisk scored the game-winning goal early in the contest, which doubled as her first goal of the season. Junior Tatumn Milazzo and freshman Selma Sol Magnusdottir added goals later in the first half to help put the Wildcats away.
“We talked about [that] everyone at a point is going to drop a match in the SEC after our loss to Mississippi State,” South Carolina head coach Shelley Smith said. “We know that how you recover and how you respond shows what kind of team you are. I thought our team did a great job at understanding what we didn’t do well in that loss and come out and do some things tonight that were much better.”
SCOUTING AUBURN
The Tigers enter Friday’s matchup with South Carolina with a 9-1-1 (1-1-1 SEC) record. Auburn is coming off its first loss of the season to the hands of Ole Miss at home, 3-2.
The Tigers have scored the most goals in the SEC this season at 34, and are first in goals per match at 3.0. That offense is led by Bri Folds who has eight goals this season, five being gamewinners. Folds was named to the National Team of the Week back on Aug. 21 for her two-goal, one-assist performance against Samford and No. 18 South Florida.
Sara Le Beau has started all 11 matches in goal for the Tigers this season. She has allowed six goals and made 36 saves, the seventh-most in the SEC this season. The redshirt senior has plenty of experience with 78 career starts, and a total of 26 clean sheets. She holds a career record of 50-21-7.
Auburn was selected to finish fifth in the SEC in the preseason coaches’ poll.
THEY GROW UP SO FAST
Two former South Carolina women’s soccer student-athletes were a part of the North Carolina Courage’s NWSL Championship that was attained over the weekend. 2014 graduate Sabrina D’Angelo helped the Courage make it to the championship match with a four-save shut out in the semifinals against the Chicago Red Stars.
2016 graduate Kaleigh Kurtz started in six matches for the Courage during the season, playing all 90 minutes in each match.
DEFENSE CAN BE THE BEST OFFENSE
Prior to Sunday’s match against Kentucky, no defenders had scored for South Carolina. That changed against the Wildcats when Fisk and Milazzo scored in the first half. In her 55th match at South Carolina, Milazzo was able to beat the Kentucky goalkeeper for her first career goal. Milazzo was aggressive on the offense end for South Carolina all weekend long. She entered the weekend with just one shot all season long, but put five toward the net last weekend with three of them on goal.
GAMECOCKS IN THE POLLS
On Tuesday afternoon, the weekly United Soccer Coaches poll was released, South Carolina dropped one spot to No. 14 after dropping a close road match with Mississippi State and defeating Kentucky at home. In the Top Drawer Soccer poll, Carolina moved from No. 6 to No. 10.
After opening the first NCAA women’s soccer RPI ranking at No. 6 last week, the Gamecocks dropped to No. 9. The SEC is tied with the ACC with the most teams inside the RPI top 10.
O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!
Since returning to the Gamecocks after her time at the U20 Women’s World Cup, Grace Fisk has led a South Carolina defense that has been as stout as anyone in the SEC. South Carolina has shut out its opponent in four out of the five matches that Fisk has started. Against Kentucky, Fisk led a defense that allowed just three total shots, with none on goal.
Fisk has been just as efficient on the offensive end this season. She has attempted six shots this season, five of them on goal for a team-leading 83.3 shot on goal percentage (min. 5 shots).
WE SET THE PACE
Over the weekend, South Carolina remained the only team in the SEC to not allow a goal in the first half of any match this season. The South Carolina defense has only allowed four goals in the field of play.
SENSATIONAL SELMA
With the amount of youth on the Gamecocks’ roster, it’s no surprise that they have stepped up. Notably, freshman Selma Sol Magnusdottir has made an impact offensively with her two goals and six assists this season. Her average of 0.75 assists per match is the best in the SEC, and her six assists is tied for the second most in the conference.
Magnusdottir highlighted the Gamecocks’ victory over Kentucky with a laser from beyond the box that found the back of the net. In the four matches that Magnusdottir has started this season, the Gamecocks are 4-0-0.
Get out of her way! @selmasolmag is not to be trifled with! #SCTop10 @sportscenter @ESPNW #Gamecocks @ESPNU
😱🎥⬇️ pic.twitter.com/2cqaqgwgju
— Gamecock W. Soccer (@GamecockWSoccer) September 23, 2018
UP NEXT
After the Auburn match, South Carolina heads to Athens to take on Georgia on Thur., Oct. 4, at 7:00 p.m. The Gamecocks then return home for a huge SEC rematch against rival Florida on the SEC Network on Sun., Oct. 7, at 3:00 p.m. ET.
