Gamecocks' Season Ends in NCAA Tournament Second Round
COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 18 South Carolina women’s soccer (11-5-0, 6-2-0 SEC) dropped its NCAA Second Round match 1-0 against Georgetown (12-0-1, 7-0-1 Big East) in Wilson, N.C., on Saturday night.
“It’s a disappointing finish, this team is good enough to be on the other side of this result tonight,” South Carolina head coach Shelley Smith said. “Credit Georgetown, when that situation at the end of the match came about, and we shouldn’t have allowed it to happen, but things happen in games and they punished us for allowing it to happen.”
The Hoyas struck in the final minute of regulation, slotting a ball in transition past freshman goalkeeper Taylor Fox. Jenna Menta was credited with the goal for Georgetown and it keeps the Big East squad undefeated and into the NCAA Tournament Third Round to take on No. 4 seed TCU.
Despite only three total shots credited to the Gamecocks’ on Saturday night, the team did have the same amount of shots on goal (2) as the Hoyas. Georgetown out shot Carolina 8-3, but the deciding factor was the Gamecocks missed penalty kick opportunity in the second half that was saved by Georgetown’s Lauren Gallagher. The loss moves Carolina to 4-5-1 all time in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
“I have been proud of this team all year for sticking together,” Smith said. “It’s not been the easiest year; our team is devastated to not still be playing and that says a lot about their drive and personalities and how they’ve stuck together as a group. I’m proud and we are so glad that every single one of them will be returning this fall which is the first time we’ve ended an NCAA run and don’t have to say goodbye to our seniors. It’s a unique opportunity for us and it’s a great learning experience from this whole year and we’ll be that much better in the fall because of it.”
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