Smith disappointed by first-half defensive effort
In the words of coach Shelley Smith, USC took a step back on Sunday.
The women’s soccer team started its weekend on a positive note, earning its second straight conference win against LSU on Friday. But the Gamecocks’ win streak was cut short when they suffered a 2-1 loss against Ole Miss on a day when neither the offense nor the defense played to the level that Smith expected.
“The disappointing thing is that we know our potential and what we’re able to do at times,” Smith said. “Finding consistency is what we’ve been trying to work on.”
Ole Miss took an early lead in the 13th minute when junior Rafaelle Souza scored from inside the goal box. USC tied the score in the 28th minute on a goal from redshirt sophomore Taylor Leach.
Sophomore Andie Romness set up the goal with a well-placed corner kick, which freshman Carolina Gray headed to Leach. It was Leach’s first career goal.
But USC’s defense gave up the winning point just five minutes later, when Ole Miss freshman Samantha Sanders scored off a rebound from a save by USC goalie Sabrina D’Angelo.
Although the Gamecocks held the Rebels scoreless in the second half, Smith was disappointed in the team’s defensive effort.
“I think overall our defensive performance was not good enough in the first half, to give away those goals and to not be able to play out of it and give ourselves opportunities to win the game was disappointing,” Smith said. “We’re happy with shutting out a team in the second half, but overall, in the course of the game, you can’t give up goals. You have to come out to play from the start, and we didn’t do that today.”
Ole Miss has averaged more than two goals per game, more than double USC’s average.
“It’s hard to defend when the ball is on the outside and you’re trying to mark up and match people coming across from the middle,” Leach said. “But we have to do a better job keeping our marks. That’s what we lacked, and that’s how they scored their goals.”
Leach has started every game for USC this season, playing mostly as a defender. She has also had two assists.
After the loss, USC has just three games remaining in its regular-season schedule.
“We’re running out of learning opportunities,” Smith said. “We have to take care of business. ... But the good thing is that we have a couple more games to earn points and give ourselves a good strong finish. Today isn’t the way we want to end the season.”
Leach said the Gamecocks will learn from their mistakes against Ole Miss and come out better prepared to play when they go on the road to face Kentucky and Alabama next weekend.
“We had two great wins and didn’t come out ready to play today,” Leach said. “So we came up with an upsetting result. Looking forward, we have to keep improving and hopefully get the results we want.”