Gamecocks attempt to keep winning streak alive in road matchup against Bulldogs
South Carolina’s women’s soccer team has been no stranger to the road in 2011, having played eight of its first 15 matches away from home.
It will look to use that experience to its advantage this weekend when it travels to face Mississippi State (4-7-3, 1-4-1) Friday before taking on Ole Miss (5-8-1, 1-5-0) Sunday.
The Gamecocks (10-5, 4-2) enter the week fresh off a three-game home winning streak that has seen them score three or more goals in each match. The streak began after a 1-0 loss to Kentucky to open the homestand, a loss coach Shelley Smith said has proved beneficial to the team’s focus.
“It was a disappointment at home against Kentucky. The team knew it,” Smith said. “For them to bounce back and find a way to overcome that and lift their game has been very impressive and rewarding for our whole program. We’re hopefully going to continue to build on that as we hit the road.”
While USC’s offense received most of the attention from last weekend’s wins over Alabama and Auburn, defender Ellen Fahey garnered some attention of her own, earning SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors for her performance in the pair of victories. The lone senior on the Gamecocks’ backline, Fahey has anchored a defense that leads the SEC with 0.8 goals allowed per game this season.
“She’s the kind of player that doesn’t get all the accolades because she’s not scoring the goals,” Smith said. “To have a returning defender like Ellen in the back to lead has been crucial to our success. When you have three freshmen players on our backline and in goal and then move Dani Henry out wide, it’s a lot to ask for your senior center back. Unless you’re in there with her, sometimes you may not realize how important she is.”
Also gaining recognition was midfielder Danielle Au, who was named AgSouth Athlete of the Week after leading Carolina with three goals over the course of the weekend. Coming off a five-goal campaign in 2010 that earned her a spot on the SEC All-Freshman Team, Au enters the weekend already with five goals, second on the team only to senior Kayla Grimsley.
Playing in their second season together, Smith believes improved chemistry between Au and Grimsley has made a significant difference to USC’s attack this year.
“I think she and Kayla have figured some things out on how to work off each other just as you see [Kortney Rhoades] and Kayla do so often,” Smith said. “You put Danielle in that mix, it makes a huge difference, and that’s where you saw a lot of our success this weekend. Danielle and Kayla especially have learned how to play with each other better. I’m excited to see how they’ll do the next couple games.”
The Bulldogs haven’t been a contender in the SEC in recent years, and other than an upset win over Auburn, 2011 hasn’t been much different. Nevertheless, Smith said her team’s primary focus will be maintaining the rhythm it’s gained over the last three matches and avoiding a letdown on the road.
“We talked to the team after Kentucky about making sure we focus every game,” Smith said. “All we care about is that one game, so that’s how we’ll treat anyone in the SEC. You do see what Mississippi State has already done to very good teams, especially playing at their home field. We expect a battle and we’re not going to go in with anything less than our best game. I think we’re all on the same page. We’ll just make sure we remind each other when Friday gets here.”