Gamecocks aim to score fourth straight victory over Lady Vols
Tennessee’s women’s soccer program has shown steady growth over the past several seasons and has emerged as a potential contender in 2011.
In the midst of that growth, however, it just hasn’t been able to figure out South Carolina.
The Gamecocks will look to keep it that way on Friday when they take on the No. 12 Lady Volunteers in Knoxville to open their 2011 SEC schedule.
“We’ve come a long way since our first game,” said USC coach Shelley Smith. “We’ve played good opponents and we’ve been challenged on the road. I feel like we’ve been battle-tested and we’ve been through several scenarios that we’ve gotten better from. We’re in a much better position now than we were going into our first match.”
Carolina (6-3) enters its SEC opener fresh off a tough nonconference slate that included six road matchups and two ranked opponents. Having faced these tests in the early part of the season, Smith believes her players will be better off as they get deeper into conference play.
“An SEC schedule is so demanding that you want to be prepared,” she said. “We could easily be 8-0 or 9-0 right now and not have been tested, but you really need to get through some games to be able to deal with the pressure and the intensity of the SEC season. It’s very important to play those good teams, plus it gives you a better strength of schedule. Unfortunately, we haven’t beaten some of the ranked teams right now, but we’ll have plenty of opportunities to do that.”
The Gamecocks’ defense has continued to be a major strength through the first nine games, entering the weekend allowing just 0.67 goals per game. Among those who have contributed significantly have been freshmen Christa Neary and Ali Whitney. The pair have started together on USC’s backline since the fourth match of the season at Arizona State, and alongside freshman keeper Sabrina D’Angelo, have transitioned quickly to the college level.
“It’s been huge to have two freshmen come in, actually three when you add Sabrina in that mix on defense,” Smith. “They’ve done what we’ve asked and have improved each game. That’s what we hoped would happen in their freshman campaign. Big credit to [veterans Ellen Fahey and Dani Henry] to bring their leadership in the back and really gel well with them. There have been a couple lapses, unfortunately, but that’s going to happen. When you can play the majority of the minutes and keep minimal threats from good teams, you’re going to be in good position.”
USC closed out nonconference play with a loss to then-No. 13 Wake Forest on Sunday, but Smith said the team’s play was much improved from last Thursday’s narrow victory over Charlotte. Capping off the first part of the season with a quality performance, Smith said she’s encouraged as the Gamecocks prepare to hit the road for the weekend.
“It was disappointing for us to come out the way we did Thursday, but I saw a good turnaround,” she said. “To be home and be rested for Sunday, to come out and play well and make some adjustments was a help. I thought it was more of a quality game, but either way, we’ve been playing well and I think we can play as well on the road as we do at home. That’s what you need to be able to do to get through conference play.”
Tennessee (7-1) enters Friday’s match as the loser of three straight matches against Carolina, but boasts one of the highest-scoring offenses through the first part of 2011. Leading the way in the attack are Caroline Brown and Emily Dowd, who have combined for 12 of the Lady Vols’ 20 goals through their first eight games.
With UT aiming to extend its hot start into conference play, Smith expects a hard-fought match to kick off the SEC schedule.
“It’s the first conference game, they’re at home, they’ve had a tremendous season so far; I know they’re up for the game,” she said. “We’ve been expected to be ahead of them in the SEC East so I know they’ll definitely want to use us as a target to start conference play.”