Senior Class Proud of Legacy of Excellence for Soccer Program

The five seniors for South Carolina women’s soccer have known nothing but excellence in their time wearing the garnet and black, and that’s how they’d like to finish their careers. The Gamecocks are in the NCAA Tournament for the seventh consecutive season and will host Samford at 6 p.m. in Saturday’s first round match up at Stone Stadium.

Mikayla  Krzeczowski

“I think the one word I’d use to summarize my time here is ‘grateful,'” said senior Elexa Bahr, who leads the team with six goals and seven assists this season. “I’m grateful to the coaches for what they’ve taught me over the years, and I’m grateful to the players for what they’ve taught me and what we’ve done together as a group. My teammates mean everything to me. They’re my sisters, and the team is my family.”

“It’s been amazing to do this with them,” added senior Grace Fisk, the three-time SEC Defensive Player of the Year and MVP of the 2019 SEC Tournament. “I love them. We’re really tight. We want to push this group to be the best we can.”

What they’ve done as a group is remarkable as this senior class has collected more overall wins and SEC wins in a four-year span than any other graduating class in program history.

“I think we learned early on in our freshman and sophomore seasons about how important it was to have team chemistry because that translates on to the field,” said senior Tatumn Milazzo. “We took that into our own hands this year.”

As freshmen in 2016, they were part of Gamecock team that went 21-2-1 overall, won the SEC Regular Season Championship with a perfect 11-0 mark in league play and advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals. As sophomores, the Gamecocks repeated as SEC Regular Season Champs, posted another unbeaten league mark at 9-0-1 while finishing 19-2-1 overall and advanced to the College Cup semifinals for the first time in program history. Last year, South Carolina finished third in the SEC and posted a 14-6-1 mark while reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament. This year, the Gamecocks have gone 16-1-3 overall and finished undefeated in SEC play for the third time in four years with a 7-0-3 mark. They went on to win the SEC Tournament for the first time since 2009, posting three straight shutouts on the way to hoisting the trophy in Orange Beach, Ala.

“It’s just awesome that we’re leaving a legacy here.”
– Rebecca  Koch

“At the beginning of the year, we all talked, and we wanted to end with a bang and make sure we get the job done,” said senior Mikayla Krzeczowski, who is the SEC’s all-time leader in career shutouts (47) and was the 2019 SEC Goalkeeper of the Year. “SEC play is behind us, so now we’re just trying to stay focused on one game at a time. We’re super excited and ready to go full steam ahead!”

“It’s just awesome that we’re leaving a legacy here,” added senior Rebecca Koch. “I think the older players that we had when we were younger were such great role models for us. I think we’re doing the same for the freshmen and sophomores now. Hopefully what we’re doing now carries over for future years as well.”

“I think it’s very significant to do what we did this year,” Bahr said. “It just shows how I, and the team, have grown every year,” Bahr said. “The program just keeps growing, and I’m so proud to be part of it for my four years. Whenever anyone comes out with a new stat about our class, it amazes me. As a group, we just play our game because we love it and the stats just seem to follow.”

While each has her own personal accolades and accomplishments, it’s what they did to contribute to the success of the program that stands out. Koch overcame an off-season injury and returned mid-season this year to provide a huge spark, including her first career goal that proved to be the game-winning goal against Georgia in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals.

“As soon as the injury happened in July, the goal was to be back for the postseason at the very least,” Koch said. “I wanted to be there for my team. To make an impact in one of my first games back means everything.”

Milazzo suffered a season-ending injury in the final home game, and while devastated by the injury she is also proud of her contributions, and the way the team continues to overcome adversity.

“This isn’t how I thought I would end my senior year, but I couldn’t be happier that we won the SEC Tournament,” Milazzo said. “That’s something our class has always dreamed of doing. I’m really proud of them, and we got to celebrate together. My role has definitely changed, but I’m going to be super-involved all the way to the end.”

“That says a lot. It’s hard to go through injuries, especially when you have a key starter and a captain of your team (get hurt) in devastating way on senior night,” said head coach Shelley Smith. “That can definitely throw you for a loop. This team definitely rallied around her and Sutton (Jones), who came in and started for her. She has come up huge for us. It’s huge for her to step up, and that’s what all these players are ready to do when asked.”

Grace  Fisk

Defense has been a strength for the Gamecocks once again this year, and South Carolina has posted 14 shutouts on the season, including all three games of the SEC Tournament. Having won eight matches by one goal, the team is confident that if it finds the back of the net at least once, they have a good chance of winning, although they’d certainly be happy if matches weren’t always so close!

“We all came together a lot in training and practice,” Milazzo said. “In games, we read very well off each other, so we know what the other person is going to do.”

“We’re all on the same page,” Krzeczowski said. “Communication is really important, and everybody’s work ethic, too. Everybody works behind the ball, and they’re willing to put their bodies on the line. It definitely makes my job ten times easier.

“I didn’t realize it until after the (SEC championship) game. Someone said, ‘you know you just had three shutouts?’ I thought, wow, that’s really cool. As long as the team gets the accolades, and everyone knows it takes 11 people to make that happen; that’s what’s important. I’m just proud that Gamecock Women’s Soccer gets that recognition that they deserve.”

“We’ve had a few nail-biters,” Koch laughed. “Our defense has been really good. They’re very organized and play well together. I trust them with anything.”

“We know as a team that we’re a unit, but we have to make sure we do our individual jobs” Fisk said. “If everyone in the backline and all over the field is doing their jobs, then as a unit, we’ll be together.”

While none of the Gamecocks, especially the seniors, are ready to see the season come to an end any time soon, they are thrilled for the opportunity to be opening the NCAA Tournament at home.

“Playing the postseason at home is huge,” Bahr said. “There is nothing like playing at Stone Stadium.”

“I’m really happy to play at home,” Fisk said. “Stone Stadium is a great atmosphere. We have some amazing fans. We’re really excited. I can’t wait.”

“It means a lot,” Krzeczowski said. “Stone Stadium is next level, and our fan base is unreal.”

“The crowds that we have at home the last four years have just been insane!” Milazzo said. “I think that’s a big reason why we’ve been successful because we have such a great support system. Nothing beats the fans at Stone Stadium.”