Carolina Ends in a Draw with Tennessee
COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 7 South Carolina women’s soccer 11-1-2, 5-0-2 SEC) finished in a 1-1 draw with Tennessee (8-5-2, 2-4-1 SEC) on Friday night at Stone Stadium. Junior midfielder Lauren Chang netted the Carolina’s lone goal.
“Tonight’s result is disappointing,” South Carolina head coach Shelley Smith said. “We told the team that we outplayed them most of the night and put ourselves in a position to win the match. We should have put some chances away to avoid the situation at the end. We gave up a goal we shouldn’t have, but we’ll have to move on and get ready for our next opponent.”
Chang scored eight minutes into the contest, scoring after senior Elexa Bahr and junior Ryan Gareis set her up with a pair of stellar passes. Bahr fed Gareis who streaked to the end line before sending a cross that found Chang on the back post who finished with her right foot. The goal was the fastest goal the Gamecocks scored since Savannah McCaskill scored in the fourth minute against Santa Clara in the 2017 NCAA Tournament.
The Gamecocks continued on for most of the match with the one goal advantage and ended the first half with the lead. Tennessee continued to fight, and with the Gamecocks unable to extend the lead, the Volunteers found magic near the end of regulation. After Mackenzie George sent a pass into the box, MA Vignola attacked the ball and was able to net the equalizer with under a minute remaining in the match.
In overtime the Gamecocks were able to outshoot the Volunteers 5-2, but couldn’t find the golden goal and ended in a draw for the second-straight match.
The draw keeps the Gamecocks as the only undefeated team in the SEC but drops South Carolina from the top spot in the standings, via points.
The Gamecocks will honor their seniors on Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. when Ole Miss comes to Stone Stadium. South Carolina then ends the regular season with a pair of road matches against Florida and Auburn.
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