Gamecocks aim to maintain perfect home record
South Carolina’s equestrian team will return home Friday afternoon to take on No. 3 Georgia. The return to Blythewood comes after a three-match road streak that saw the No. 4 Gamecocks go 1-2 with both losses coming in the form of raw score tiebreakers. Coach Boo Major said her team is capable of doing better.
“We had some good things happen this weekend, but we also made some critical mistakes,” Major said. “Two of our rides got disqualified, but the good thing about it is that the mistakes are easily correctable. I want to be undefeated right now so we definitely have room for improvement. We just have had some opportunities get away from us. ”
USC hopes to take advantage of this week’s matchup with the Bulldogs at One Wood Farm, where the Gamecocks have outscored their opponents 30-9 so far this season.
“I’m happy that we get to have the home-field advantage this weekend,” Major said. “If we want to remain undefeated at home, we have to pull out the win. However, we know that Georgia will come in here and give us everything they’ve got so we have to be ready to play.”
The Bulldogs (2-1) enter the weekend fresh off a 16-4 thrashing of TCU and have outscored their past two opponents by a combined score of 29-11.
Hoping to move on from its latest tiebreaker defeat against New Mexico State on Saturday, Major says USC is focusing on Georgia.
“This is a very important match for us,” Major said. “They are one spot ahead of us in the rankings and have a really great team. Our girls have been focusing on Georgia since Saturday. We have to fix the mistakes we made against SMU and New Mexico State because we can’t make them against Georgia.”
The Western team was a bright spot for the Gamecocks (3-2) against New Mexico State after struggling earlier in the season, posting a 6-4 win over the Aggies. Major said this didn’t come as a surprise to her.
“I’m extremely proud of our Western team,” said Major. “I knew coming in that our Horsemanship riders were solid and despite a few mistakes, we were still able to pull out the win.”
Freshman Cody McMillion, who made her first appearance as a Gamecock in the match at New Mexico State, responded by defeating the Aggies’ Andrea Allen. As a result, she will start again against the Bulldogs on the Equitation and Over Fences team.
The match Friday will be the last competition of the fall semester for the Gamecocks. They will be off until late January when they will resume play in advance of the equestrian championships in April. Major said the fact that this is the last match for months makes it even more meaningful.
“We have had some disappointments this season,” Major said. “Therefore, we want to end the fall semester on a positive note. We do not want to go into the break with a bad taste in our mouth; we want the momentum heading into the spring semester.”