Schaefer Earns M.O.P. Honors Against No. 8 SMU
Dallas, Texas – Freshman Madeline Schaefer earned Most Outstanding Player honors, but the No. 4 South Carolina equestrian team fell just short of another road win, falling to the No. 8 SMU Mustangs 11-9 on Friday at the Dallas Equestrian Complex.
Schaefer, in just her second competitive meet with the Gamecocks, tallied a 90-point ride to earn the highest fences score for any Carolina rider this season. The Westminster, Md. native has impressed in her two rides for Carolina this season, with an 83 in her debut last week against UT Martin.
“The team fought really hard today and it just wasn’t in the cards for us to come out on top,” head coach Boo Major said. “The good news is that we have another meet tomorrow against OSU and I’m looking forward to see how we rebound from today. Kudos to the fences squad for their 4-1 win, and Madeline for her first win on the road and her M.O.P. honors.”
The Gamecocks opened the day with some horsemanship with some solid scores. Senior Caroline Gute earned a 72.5 on Cowboy, while junior Gabby Brassard tallied a 71.5 on Ray. Freshman Cora Wyers scored a 71 on Shirley, and junior Taylor Kellam notched a 73.5 on kid, but the lone Gamecock point in horsemanship came from freshman Natalie Vargo and her 74-point ride on Pete.
Over on the flat the Garnet and Black kept up the high scores, but kept falling short of earning points. Sophomore Kit Cunningham opened things up with a 72 on Bravo, followed by an 84 from Madison Sellman on Zulu. Sophomore Grady Lyman tied her season-high score with an 88 on Hamilton, but the Gamecock points on the flat came from junior Billi Brandner’s 83 on Punch and fellow junior Louisa Brackett’s 82 on Rosie, sending the Gamecocks into the half facing a 7-3 deficit.
Things started going Carolina’s way when the squad made it over to the fences. Sophomore Caroline Bald notched an 83 on Santos, just missing out on a point, before the Garnet and Black rattled off four unanswered points. Freshman Jordan Allen got the rally started with her 87 on Hamilton, followed by Lyman’s 86 on Zulu. Schaefer came out blazing with a 90 on Dillon, the highest fences score of the year for the team. Junior Tyler Petrie put a bow on things with her 83-point ride on Cassiana as Carolina closed the gap and went into reining down one, 8-7.
After dropping the first reining point senior Jordan Scott helped the South Carolina rally with a point from her 71.5-point ride on Tinsel. The Mustangs shut the door on the Carolina rally with two straight points before sophomore Sloane Vogt took the last point of the meet with her 71-point ride on Tequila. When the dust settled the Carolina rally came up just short as the Garnet and Black fell to SMU, 11-9.
The Gamecocks look to bounce back tomorrow when they travel to Stillwater, Okla. for a clash with No. 2 Oklahoma State. The action is set to get underway at 11 a.m. ET.
