Carolina Set for Matchup with No. 4 Wildcats
The Gamecocks travel to Lexington, Kentucky, for the first of two consecutive matchups with top-five teams.
COLUMBIA– The Gamecocks hit the road for a match against No. 4 Kentucky at 7 p.m. on Saturday night at the Bell Soccer Complex in Lexington, Kentucky.
The match will be streamed live on ESPN+ and can follow along with stats here.
GAMECOCK NOTABLES
The Gamecocks have a week between games after Carolina’s last match came on Oct. 16 when it lost to No. 18 FIU, 4-1, at Stone Stadium.
Peter Clement scored the only Gamecock goal in the 26th minute on a penalty kick. Andrew Halloran drew the foul inside of the penalty box to set up Clement’s penalty kick goal.
Logan Frost has scored three goals in the last three matches for Carolina. He scored two goals against UAB on Oct. 9.
Frost leads the Gamecocks in goals with four, assists with three and points with 11.
Carolina has a knack for earning corner kicks. The Gamecocks are 17th in the country with 6.62 corner kicks per match.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
The Wildcats come into Saturday’s match ranked fourth in the country in the United Soccer Coaches Week 8 poll.
The Wildcats lead the nation in goals against average and have allowed just four goals all season.
Kentucky has shut out eight of its opponents and have the second-best shutout percentage in the nation at 67 percent.
Kentucky beat No. 25 West Virginia on Tuesday night 1-0 in double overtime.
All but eight of Kentucky’s 25 players who have seen the pitch this season have at least one point.
Luke Andrews, Eythor Bjorgolffson and Daniel Evans have each scored three goals each this season.
SERIES HISTORY
Series Record: Kentucky leads 10-7-3
Last Meeting: 10/17/2020
Last South Carolina Win: 11/4/2016, 2-1
Last Kentucky Win: 4/17/2021, 2-1
Last Tie: 10/13/2013, 0-0 (2OT)
QUOTABLES
Head Coach Tony Annan on …
… what has been happening the past week:
“It’s been good to give the guys some rest. We gave them a couple of days to get themselves back together. Obviously, in college soccer it’s a tough season, so it was good for the guys to get some rest, but we’re back into training and everyone looks to be refreshed.”
… how important time off is:
“It’s been great. We’ve playing two or three games per week. The training and working with he team is limited because of that we’re not destroying the players. It’s been nice to be off but also train at the right level for a day or two before going into our next match.”
… what the Gamecocks need to do well Saturday:
“First of all, we need to play well. We need to be better with the ball and in possession. They’re a very good team. We need to defend as best we can to stop them playing. It’s going to be a very thug game for us.”
