No. 7 Gamecocks Head to Kentucky, Host Vanderbilt, this Week
#7 Women’s Soccer at Kentucky/vs. Vanderbilt
- Match Notes
- Watch Live (Kentucky)
- Watch Live (Vanderbilt)
- Live Stats (Kentucky)
- Live Stats (Vanderbilt)
COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 7 South Carolina women’s soccer will head to Lexington, Ky. to take on Kentucky (5-6-2, 0-4-0 SEC) on Oct. 10 at 7:30 p.m. on SEC Network + before returning to Stone Stadium to take on the 2019 SEC regular season champions, Vanderbilt (9-3-0, 2-2-0 SEC), at home on Oct. 13 at 3 p.m. on SEC Network.
GAMECOCKS WIN 300TH IN PROGRAM HISTORY OVER MISSOURI
No. 7 South Carolina women’s soccer (9-1-0, 4-0-0 SEC) shut out its seventh opponent of the 2019 season with a 1-0 victory over Missouri on Oct. 4. Junior forward Luciana Zullo scored the second half gamewinner to give the Gamecocks the road victory.
The win for the Gamecocks is the 300th win in program history. South Carolina head coach Shelley Smith has won 244 of those matches and is now up to 285 wins in her 24-year career.
“Getting a win on the road in the SEC is always tough,” Smith said. “Credit to Missouri, I thought they made it difficult to play against, they showed how dangerous their attackers can be. We knew we had to defend well against them and then take advantage when we had any space. I was proud of our team to stick with it offensively tonight and find a way to get the goal they needed. Also credit the Missouri goalkeeper who made some good saves, especially in that first half.”
SCOUTING KENTUCKY
Kentucky (5-6-2, 0-4-0 SEC) will take the field on Thursday without a win in their past six matches. The Wildcats have lost each of the past three meetings with the Gamecocks and haven’t scored a goal against Carolina since 2014. Earlier this season, Kentucky used a 5-match winning streak to sit at 5-0-2 before dropping the last six-straight matches. Freshman Hannah Richardson has easily been the Wildcats most dangerous this season. She’s scored eight goals on 22 shots and has scored a goal in three of her first four SEC matches. Fellow freshman Jordyn Rhodes is also another talented goal scorer with four goals this season but hasn’t scored since Sept. 1. In goal it has been Steph Stull every single match this season. The freshman owns a 1.46 goals against average and has faced 153 shots this season.
SCOUTING VANDERBILT
As the defending SEC regular-season champions, Vanderbilt (9-3-0, 2-2-0 SEC) has continued its success into 2019. The Commodores raced out to a 7-0-0 start before dropping its first match against a then-No. 20 Louisville. Vanderbilt has picked up SEC victories over Tennessee and Georgia and dropped conference matches against Arkansas, on the road, and Florida at home. Redshirt sophomore Haley Hopkins has been on a tear this season. She’s already scored nine goals on 47 shots this season to go along with three assists to lead the Commodores offensively. In goal it has been Lauren DeMarchi and Taiana Tolleson who have split time. Demarchi has started 10 matches, but Tolleson has played more minutes this season. Combined, the two have a goals against average of 0.42 this season. Last season, the Gamecocks and Commodores tied in a scoreless draw in Nashville, Tenn.
GAMECOCK NATIONAL STATS
Nationally, the Gamecocks are among the best in goals against average through seven weeks of the season with a team mark of 0.50. That ranks the Gamecocks 15th in the country. Individually, Mikayla Krzeczowski is 17th in the country in goals against average. Forwards Elexa Bahr and Luciana Zullo are tied for 36th in the NCAA with three game-winning goals. South Carolina is second in the country in average attendance through the non-conference season with an average of 2,603 fans at each home match.
ABUNDANT EXPERIENCE
Carolina’s starting defense consists of two juniors and three seniors who have combined for 267 collegiate starts. Mikayla Krzeczowski (76), Tatumn Milazzo (52) and Sarah Eskew (41) have made all of their starts at South Carolina. Center backs Grace Fisk (64) and Anna Patten (34) have made starts at previous schools on top of their time at South Carolina.
WEEKLY GREATNESS
Coming in at No. 7 in the latest United Soccer Coaches Poll, South Carolina has now been in the top 25 for 44-straight weeks dating back to 2016. The streak is the longest since the program began keeping track in 2007.
IT’S ALWAYS SPOOKY SEASON
With Carolina’s 1-0 win over No. 13 Arkansas, the Gamecocks have increased their number of ranked opponents defeated at Stone Stadium to 12 over the past four years. South Carolina also holds a 47-5-1 record at Stone Stadium in the last 53 matches.
IT JUST MEANS MORE – TO THE GAMECOCKS
Over the past seven seasons, the Gamecocks have been near the top of the SEC standings almost every season. Since giving up three goals on Oct. 25, 2012, the Gamecocks have not given up more than two goals in a single SEC match, a streak that covers 70 matches with the Gamecocks holding an impressive 50-12-8 record over that span.
UP NEXT
Carolina will once again just play one match during the week when Tennessee comes to Columbia on Fri. Oct. 18. The match is scheduled for 7 p.m. and can be viewed on SEC Network +.
QUICK NOTES
– Carolina has won four SEC Player of the Week honors with Tatumn Milazzo (Week 1) and Anna Patten (Week 3), Lauren Chang (Week 5) and Grace Fisk (Week 6) each earning one honor so far
– Mikayla Krzeczowski’s 40 career shutouts has her tied for the 16th most in NCAA Division I history
– The Gamecocks came back from two goals down to defeat Alabama 5-2, the first time in the Shelley Smith-era that Carolina came from two goals down to win a match
– The Gamecocks have defeated 12 ranked opponents at Stone Stadium over the past four years and hold an overall record of 12-2-0 in that span
– Since Fisk joined the Gamecocks in 2017, the team has a goals against average of 0.45 in the 47 matches she has played
