Gamecocks Roll Past Georgia State 6-0 with Help From a Cat-Trick
ATLANTA, GA – No. 25 South Carolina (3-0-4) took down Georgia State (1-5-2) in an offensive showing Sunday night, bringing home a 6-0 win for the fourth-most goals in program history. A hat-trick from fifth-year Cat Barry highlighted the game, the first of her career. With the victory, head coach Shelley Smith tallied the 350th of her career.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The first 30 minutes of the first half remained relatively quiet, with the first shot for the Gamecocks coming from rookie Katie Shea Collins that was just off target
- Just three minutes later, Collins was fouled inside the 18 by Georgia State’s Maria Andujar, setting Barry up for a penalty kick. At the whistle, Barry made a clean shot to the bottom left corner of the net to put South Carolina up 1-0 over the Panthers
- At the 36-minute mark, Collins knocked in a goal of her own from Gracie Falla, extending the score to 2-0 with her fourth goal of the season
- The Gamecocks came out swinging in the second half, scoring the third goal of the game just under two minutes into play from fifth-year Brianna Behm, her first of the season
- At the 48-minute mark, Barry capitalized on a pass from Amanda Patrick and headed it in for her second goal of the game to put South Carolina up 4-0. Less than a minute later, Barry found herself with the ball once more after Behm intercepted it from the Panthers inside the 18 and snuck it past the GSU keeper for her first career hat-trick
- South Carolina wasn’t done yet, with Behm scoring her second goal of the game in the 63rd minute after shooting it just past the fingertips of the Panthers’ keeper
NOTABLES
- The Gamecocks’ four goals in the second half marked the first time for the program since 2019 (Aug. 28 vs. Jacksonville)
- Behm and Barry’s 2+ goals in one half were the first for two players since South Carolina defeated No. 18. Tennessee 6-1 in the 2022 campaign
- The hat-trick from Barry marked just the eighth in program history after Collins grabbed the seventh in the season opener over Furman
- Barry now has 41 career goals, moving her into the No. 2 spot of the South Carolina record book past Gamecock great Savannah McCaskill (40)
- Barry’s now 18 career game-winners also places her at the sole No. 1 spot, previously tying with McCaskill’s 17
- Barry and Collins have now combined for 12 of the team’s 19 goals
- South Carolina outshot the Panthers 21-2, with 10 shots coming on goal
UP NEXT
South Carolina will officially open up SEC play on the road, facing Georgia on Thursday, Sept. 19 at 6:00 p.m. on ESPNU.
