No. 11 Gamecocks Host Rival Florida on Sunday
#11 Women’s Soccer vs. Florida
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The 11th-ranked University of South Carolina women’s soccer team (4-1-0, 4-1-0 SEC) takes on Florida (1-2-1, 1-2-1 SEC) at home on Oct. 25, at 2 p.m. The match will be aired on SEC Network from Stone Stadium.
LAST TIME OUT – ARKANSAS
Then-No. 15 South Carolina women’s soccer (4-1-0, 4-1-0 SEC) defeated then-No. 3 Arkansas (4-1-0, 4-1-0 SEC) 2-1 on the road Fri., Oct. 16, for the second-highest ranked win in program history. Sophomore midfielder Samantha Chang scored the game-winning goal in the second half to give the program its sixth win over a top-five opponent.
“We expected a battle and we got that tonight,” South Carolina head coach Shelley Smith said. “We talked before the game about how great of an opportunity this was and we went into this game trying to prove ourselves and do something that not a lot of people thought we could do on the road against Arkansas. We believed in what we could do and the team stuck together tonight.”
Corinna Zullo scored Carolina’s opening goal in the first half, the first of her career. Arkansas was able to equalize the match, but Chang’s goal in the 71st minute was enough for the Gamecocks to take the win and claim the top spot in the SEC standings through five weeks of SEC action. Goalkeeper Heather Hinz made a career-high six saves in the win.
“Heather was fantastic in goal tonight,” Smith said. “She was facing a lot of threats and Arkansas does a great job at striking from long range and putting service in the box and I thought our defense was strong all night and was able to clear the ball most of the time and when they didn’t, Heather was there to clean it up. Huge credit to Heather for stepping up knowing she was going to face a lot of dangerous balls in the box.”
CHANG NAMED SEC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
South Carolina women’s soccer sophomore Samantha Chang was honored as the SEC Offensive Player of the Week, the conference office announced on Monday. The honor is the third straight week the Gamecocks have earned a weekly honor from the SEC.
“Sam’s goal was not only an important gamewinner on the day, but a great effort and excellent execution by her and her teammates,” South Carolina head coach Shelley Smith said. “Sam had recovered to be in a good position defensively, and stole the ball on a tackle to start the play. Her ability to link a pass and get out began our transition into the attack where she sprinted to join in which ultimately ended with Sam being the goal scorer. It was a really nice play from Sam and we are happy that she is being recognized this week for those efforts.”
Chang netted the gamewinner for the No. 15 Gamecocks against No. 3 Arkansas, helping Carolina earn its second highest ranked win in program history (No. 1 North Carolina in 2007). The Mississauga, Ontario, native, scored the game-winning goal in the 71st minute for the Gamecocks in the 2-1 win, playing 66 minutes.
SCOUTING FLORIDA
Halfway through their 2020 campaign the Florida Gators sit at 1-2-1 in the SEC and are coming off back-to-back SEC losses for the first time since 2018. All but one of Florida’s opponents this season have been ranked when they have played, with Vanderbilt being the only team that wasn’t ranked at the time of their match. The 2020 Gators return nine starters from their 2019 lineup that advanced to the NCAA Tournament with 66 percent of their goals in 2019 returning. So far this season Florida has five different goal scorers, but no players have scored multiple times. Maddy Rhodes has been the most dangerous offensive player this season with five of her six shots on target while scoring one goal and having one assist this season. Susi Espinoza has been the starting goalkeeper all four matches for the Gators this season. She’s made eight saves in 47 shots faced while allowing six goals for a 1.38 goals against average this season. As a team the Gators average 11.8 shots per match and have allowed 12 per match. They have been attacked via the corner kick this season, allowing 25 corner kicks while only having 10 of their own this season.
CHANG NAMED NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK, TWICE
South Carolina women’s soccer sophomore midfielder Samantha Chang was named the United Soccer Coaches and TopDrawerSoccer.com National Player of the Week for her performance in the Gamecocks’ 2-1 win against No. 3 Arkansas.
The Canadian international played 66 minutes in Carolina’s upset win over the Razorbacks and scored the game-winning goal in the 71st minute. Chang was also honored by College Soccer News on their national Team of the Week. The four awards for Chang are the first weekly honors she has earned in her career.
The national honor from the United Soccer Coaches is the first time a Gamecock has won it since Mikayla Krzeczowski in 2018 while it is the first TopDrawerSoccer.com National Player of the Week honor since 2019 when Grace Fisk was honored.
SMITH APPROACHING 300 WINS
South Carolina head coach Shelley Smith is just one win away from 300 career wins, with 258 of those coming at South Carolina. Smith is in her 20th year as a head coach at South Carolina and has won five SEC Championships, coached 14 All-Americans, has reached four NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals and one College Cup (2017). Smith is fourth all-time in SEC women’s soccer history with 299 wins and will attempt to become the 27th women’s soccer NCAA Division I coach to win 300 matches in a career.
CHAMPIONSHIP PEDIGREE
Between the Gamecocks and the Gators, since 2006, the teams have won at least one of the championships in 12 of the 14 seasons. The Gamecocks have won a combined five in that span while the Gators have claimed 13.
The Gamecocks have been the more dominant recently, claiming three in the past four seasons while Florida has not claimed an SEC title since the 2016 SEC Tournament.
RIGHTFULLY RANKED
For the second consecutive week the Gamecocks were ranked inside the United Soccer Coaches top 15 poll. Carolina moved up from No. 15 to No. 11 after taking down then-No. 3 Arkansas on the road, 2-1. Despite the Gamecocks being on top of the SEC regular season standings over halfway through the 2020 regular season the Gamecocks still sit behind No. 7 Arkansas and No. 9 Texas A&M in the rankings. For the 2020 season the United Soccer Coaches poll has been reduced to just 15 teams, with no additional ‘teams receiving votes’.
‘MATTER’ IS THE MINIMUM PATCH
As of July 30, 2020, the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved rules to allow student-athletes in all sports to wear patches on their uniforms for commemorative and memorial purposes, as well as to support social justice issues. Student-athletes of the South Carolina women’s soccer program chose to wear patches that read “Matter is the Minimum” on their right sleeve.
The Gamecocks chose to wear these patches because they want to use their platform as student-athletes to take a stand against systemic racism and social injustice. The team does not tolerate any form of racism and injustice and wants to do its part to make a change. Although these patches are small, they stand for a movement that is bigger than any game.
UP NEXT
Carolina will have a short week when Mississippi State comes to Columbia for the Gamecocks annual Senior Night. The match with the Bulldogs is set for Fri., Oct. 30, at 7 p.m. at Stone Stadium. The match can be seen on SEC Network +. The Gamecocks did not face Mississippi State in 2019 and lost to the Bulldogs in 2018 on the road, 2-1 in overtime.
QUICK NOTES
– Riley Tanner is the only Carolina student-athlete on the 2020 roster to score against Florida; Tanner scored off the bench against the Florida Gators in 2019 in the 1-1 draw in Gainesville
– South Carolina has won four straight over the Gators at Stone Stadium with the last loss coming in 2012
– Since 2011 the Gamecocks have the best record, and the only winning record, among SEC teams against the Gators holding a 7-3-1 record over the past 10 seasons
– The 2020 season for the Gamecocks is the 25th season in program history with head coach Shelley Smith entering her 20th season as the leader of the Garnet and Black
– Shelley Smith won her 299th match against Arkansas on Oct. 16, putting her just one win away from 300 for her career
