Women’s Soccer Coaches Garner Southeast Region Staff of the Year Honors
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina women’s soccer head coach Shelley Smith and assistants Jamie Smith and Clark McCarthy earned Southeast Region Staff of the Year honors through a vote of the region’s coaches, the United Soccer Coaches announced Tuesday.
The regional honor for the Gamecocks’ staff is the fifth in program history and the third with the current staff. The honor is the third in the past four seasons for the South Carolina staff that has reached the NCAA Tournament in seven straight seasons.
The Gamecocks posted an overall record of 19-2-3, while registering an undefeated 7-0-3 mark in SEC play, finishing the year unbeaten in conference play for the third time in four seasons. Carolina notched a 9-1-2 at home, including a 6-0-2 record in the regular season.
In 2019 South Carolina won its fifth SEC Championship, defeating Arkansas 1-0 in the SEC Tournament final. The Gamecocks advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals for the third time in four seasons in 2019 and won at least 19 matches in the same time frame.
The Gamecocks finished the regular season as the No. 5 team in the United Soccer Coaches poll, which included one vote for the No. 1 rank in the country, and finished the regular season at No. 5 in the RPI.
Over the course of 2019, South Carolina tallied six All-SEC honors – including the SEC’s first Goalkeeper of the Year in Mikayla Krzeczowski and the Defender of the Year in Grace Fisk – registered four All-Southeast Region choices, earned five SEC weekly awards and placed one on the MAC Hermann Trophy semifinal list.
South Carolina distinguished itself as one of the top defensive teams in the country, ranking second in goals against average at 0.32 and total shutouts at 17, third in shutout percentage at 70.8 and fifth in win percentage at 85.4.
The staff has now earned a spot on the ballot for National Staff of the Year. The United Soccer Coaches will announce the National Staff of the Year on Dec. 20.
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