Gamecocks Fall to UGA 1-0 in Season Opener
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina women’s soccer (0-1-0, 0-1-0 SEC) fell to Georgia (1-0-0, 1-0-0 SEC) 1-0 on the road on Sunday afternoon. The Bulldogs scored early in the second half and held on to defeat the Gamecocks for the first time since 2014.
“Overall, we had some good things happen today, but there were a couple of things we did not do well enough and that left us exposed,” head coach Shelley Smith said. “Credit to Georgia for capitalizing on their chance and getting the goal they needed. We had chances that I thought we should have done a better job with, but when you don’t put those away sometimes you are going to end up on the losing end of things.”
Georgia scored the match’s lone goal in the 63rd minute when Abby Boyan snuck the ball past freshman goalkeeper Taylor Fox. Despite giving up the goal, the Gamecocks have only given up multiple goals one time in the last 37 matches dating back to 2018.
Carolina had opportunities during the match, Catherine Barry made her presence known during her first appearance in the Garnet and Black, finishing with a pair of shots. Riley Tanner came off the bench and provided a spark for the Gamecocks, generating multiple opportunities that just did not find the back of the net for Carolina.
In the second half, senior captain Lauren Chang had multiple free kick chances at the edge of the box, with her first attempt going over the goal and the other nearly resulting in a goal after Anna Patten sent a heading pass across the box to the far post.
The loss for Carolina snaps a season-opening winning streak of six, dating back to 2013. It also snaps a 12-match unbeaten streak and moves head coach Shelley Smith’s opening day record to 12-4-4.
Carolina will shift its focus on Missouri back at Stone Stadium. The Gamecocks will host the Tigers on Sept. 27, at 4 p.m. on SEC Network.
For more information on the Gamecocks, continue to check back with GamecocksOnline.com. Subscribe to South Carolina on Stanza to get schedule updates directly in your calendars.
The South Carolina Athletics Department announced ticketing information for the approximately 675 seats available for the four 2020 fall home matches. Only fans who had purchased season tickets for the upcoming season will have the ability to purchase single-game tickets. Season tickets, including the tickets with scarf option, for the 2020 season will not be honored and will be refunded.
A fixed amount of student tickets will be available for each match. Students will receive additional information on instructions for receiving tickets to home matches from the Department of Student Life. If you have any questions about ticketing for soccer this fall, please reach out to the Gamecock Ticket Office at 803-777-4274.
Keep up with Carolina women’s soccer on Twitter and Instagram (@GamecockWSoccer) and on Facebook, so you do not miss any content during the 2019 season.
