No. 4 Gamecocks Shut Out UConn 3-0 on Thursday
STORRS, CT – The No. 4 South Carolina women’s soccer team remain undefeated after taking down UConn 3-0 on the Huskies’ home turf for the first meeting between the two in program history.
Breaking Down the Action
The first 45 was a battle between the Gamecocks and Huskies, keeping things locked at 0-0 heading into the half. South Carolina’s Cat Barry got things started early for the Gamecocks, putting up a shot at the three-minute mark that was blocked by UConn goalkeeper Kaitlyn Mahoney.
UConn answered back with their first shot of the game in the 11th minute but couldn’t capitalize thanks to the Gamecocks’ defense blocking the attempt. Carolina put up four more shots (two on goal) throughout the half but came up empty. The Huskies finished with three total shots, with two being saved by Gamecock goalkeeper Heather Hinz.
The Huskies started things off with two shots early in the second half at the 48th minute, followed by a third that was saved by Hinz in the 51st. Shortly after a third attempt by UConn, fifth-year Sam Chang found an opening in the mayhem to score in the 62nd minute on an assist from Shae O’Rourke to put the Gamecocks up 1-0.
The Gamecocks stayed hot, putting up four more shots (two on goal) over the course of the next 18 minutes. In the 81st, Shae O’Rouke tallied her second assist of the evening as a beautiful pass to Eveleen Hahn set her up to score the second goal of the night. Fans kept their heads on a swivel as Claire Griffiths put in the third and final goal for the Gamecocks a mere two minutes later with an assist from the previous scorer Hahn.
The goals for Chang, Hahn, and Griffiths all the marked the first of the season for each. Hinz tallied four saves on the night, and has recorded at least one save in each game so far this season. South Carolina now moves to 2-0-1.
Up Next
The Gamecocks will travel to head coach Shelley Smith’s alma mater Vermont to take on the Catamounts on Sunday, Aug. 28 at 2:00 p.m.
For women’s soccer updates, continue to check back with GamecocksOnline.com or follow the team’s social media accounts on Twitter @GamecockWSoccer, Facebook /GamecockWSoccer, and Instagram @GamecockWSoccer.
