Gamecocks look to add to historic season
South Carolina’s women’s soccer team enters the week with the title of SEC champion to its name.
Now it will attempt to do so once more as it prepares to open the 2011 SEC Tournament tonight in Orange Beach, Ala., as the No. 1 overall seed against No. 8 seed Alabama.
The Gamecocks enter the tournament fresh off a record-setting weekend that saw them claim their first regular season conference title with their first-ever win at Florida, an achievement coach Shelley Smith said came as a result of the confident mindset of her players.
“It was a thrill to be in a different position than we have been in the past when we go to Florida,” Smith said. “I didn’t realize until I read after the game that we hadn’t scored [in Gainesville] since I’ve been here as a coach. I just knew we hadn’t won there.
“That kind of feeling going in wasn’t the same this time. We really did have a lot of confidence and pressure off us to win the regular season knowing that we’d already clinched a [share of the title]. It just came down to the players wanting it to be themselves at the top. To go in there and have that kind of attitude and desire to win is tremendous. They deserved to win.”
The recognition continued to grow for Carolina in the days following the victory with the announcement of the SEC’s annual awards. Senior forward Kayla Grimsley was named Offensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season while freshman goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo was named Co-Defensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year. Rounding out the honors was the Coach of the Year award for Smith, making her its recipient for the second time in the last three years.
“I’m honored to have my name next to it, but it’s an award that I share with everyone in our staff and our program,” Smith said. “It’s because of the players and the success they’ve had on and off the field and all the support I get as a head coach. It’s definitely not just my award.”
Grimsley was also familiar with her award, earning the same honor for her efforts in 2010. Claiming the title of best offensive player for the second straight year with six goals and eight assists in conference play, Grimsley said it’s an achievement she’s proud to have.
“It’s everything to me,” Grimsley said. “It’s tough going in and playing teams, getting respect from people and if you make an impact in the game having them turn around and say, `We think you’re the best offensive player in the SEC.’ To see the coaches vote for me for two years in a row is an incredible feeling and I love to see that.”
D’Angelo becomes the first player in program history to earn both honors in the same season and just the second to earn either award. The freshman enters the week leading the SEC with a goals against average of 0.76 and is second with a save percentage of 0.819.
“It’s great to be awarded by the other coaches out of all the other goalkeepers,” D’Angelo said. “To be selected by those coaches feels great, and it’s a huge honor.”
Grimsley and D’Angelo were also named First Team All-SEC, joined by senior defender Ellen Fahey. Smith said the awards and recognition were well-deserved.
“I was thrilled for them and for the program,” Smith said. “The respect we’ve been shown by the other coaches in the conference, I’m very honored and humbled. There are so many good players in our conference and there are even more that deserve All-SEC honors as well, but the ones that have continuously shown over the course of the SEC season have been named and proven themselves.”
Although the Gamecocks enter the week with the title of SEC champion in tow and a sweep of the SEC’s individual awards, Smith said she doesn’t expect any change to the team’s mindset going forward.
“This team went into Florida knowing they wanted to win regardless. They were already SEC champs, but they wanted to win it outright,” Smith said. “That’s the kind of mindset we have going into Alabama. They want to win championships, and that’s what’s gotten them to this point. We’re going to continue to do our best to reach those goals, but one game at a time. That’s what happened in the regular season, now we have to do that if we want to get past Alabama. Our goal is every game we face we’re going to play it like it’s our last.”