But top-ranked, undefeated Stanford comes next
South Carolina's women's soccer team lost five times over the course of the 2011 regular season, and in three of the matches that directly followed, it proceeded to score two goals or more en route to a victory.
That wasn't the case Friday, but fortunately that didn't matter for the Gamecocks.
Playing for the first time since falling to Alabama in its first match of the SEC Tournament, No. 22 USC jumped out to an early lead then managed to hold off the Texas attack, beating the Longhorns 1-0 at Stone Stadium in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
"We're thrilled with a win," said USC coach Shelley Smith. "We were so glad to get a home bid, and we took full advantage of that. Our players were ready to play from the start, and that's what we needed to do against a good Texas team. I was really proud of our effort and how we jumped on them early."
The Gamecocks' lone strike came courtesy of senior forward Lolly Holland. Running onto a cross from Maria Petroni, Holland managed to redirect the ball just in front of the left post, sending it into the lower right corner for her sixth goal of the season.
Senior forward Kayla Grimsley was also credited with an assist on the play, giving her 10 goals, 10 assists and 30 points for the second consecutive year. She became the first player in program history to reach that achievement in 2010.
"[Scoring early] changes the game completely," Grimsley said. "We came in ready to play and caught them on their heels a little bit. Anytime you can score early it's a big change in the game. We got the momentum going forward, and they kind of sat back and said, 'Now we have to work twice as hard to catch up.' I think that helped us with confidence, and we just went forward from there."
The Longhorns recovered from a sluggish first half with a strong showing in the second, outshooting USC 5-4 and earning three corner kicks. UT's closest scoring opportunity came on a corner in the 49th minute, posting a shot in front of the goal before firing another off a rebound before the USC defense managed to clear the ball away.
Freshman keeper Sabrina D'Angelo finished with four saves on the night, earning a shutout in her first NCAA Tournament appearance.
"It's great coming off a loss and then being able to win and get a shutout," she said. "Without the team and the defense in front of me, I wouldn't have been able to do it."
The victory comes nine days after USC's early exit from the SEC Tournament, an exit Grimsley said proved to be a blessing in disguise.
"You never want to go out in the first game of the SEC Tournament, especially when you're ranked No. 1 going in, but we took full advantage of it," Grimsley said. "Everybody has tweaks at this time in the season, and I think a lot of us had some we wanted to rest. We had probably the greatest practice of the season coming off three days of rest, so I think that was the best thing that could've happened other than winning the tournament."
The Gamecocks' focus now turns to their second-round matchup at Stanford next Friday. Having successfully avoided overlooking Texas, Smith said she expects USC to be prepared for the Cardinal.
"Stanford's obviously the favorite to win it all, but we want to win the championship as well," Smith said. "It's always a tough road [in the tournament] no matter who you face, and you have to get through Stanford at some point to win a championship. If we can have the opportunity to have one of the biggest upsets you'll find in college soccer, we'll do it."