Ninety minutes weren't enough to determine a winner between No. 18 South Carolina and No. 22 Clemson in the first round of the NCAA tournament Friday night.
Two ten-minute overtime periods didn't do anything to clear it up either.
It wasn't until Gamecocks goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo made two critical saves during penalty kicks that No. 3 seeded South Carolina (14-5-3) was able to advance past archival Clemson (13-3-3), with a final score of 0-0 (4-3 PKs), to continue on to the second round of the NCAA tournament, avenging a September loss to the Tigers.
For D’Angelo, the joy she felt after making the game-winning save on a shot by Clemson’s Gabby Byorth outweighs the sorrow she dealt with after giving up the lone goal in the Gamecocks’ loss to Clemson earlier in the season.
“The team has saved my butt a lot of times, and it was my turn to kind of come up big for them,” D’Angelo said. “As soon as I went, I took off to left, and I knew I was saving it. It was just like, 'Oh my gosh, I did it. We did it.' It was just a huge honor.”
With the two teams tied 3-3 during penalty kicks, it was junior midfielder Bay Daniel who gave the Gamecocks the decisive lead after her shot got past Clemson goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan. Moments later, D’Angelo made her second of two penalty kick saves to seal the deal.
Entering the contest, both teams expected a defensive-minded game. Everything leading up to the penalty kicks reflected that. Neither team had any true scoring opportunities, and the two squads combined for just eight shots with only one on goal.
With D’Angelo, a first team all-SEC selection, and Sheridan, who made the all-ACC first team, doing the goalkeeping for the respective sides, South Carolina head coach Shelley Smith had a feeling the game was destined for overtime and possibly penalty kicks.
“It looked like that,” Smith said. “Someone had to get a break there, and I thought we had times where it looked like we were in pretty good positions, and credit to Clemson’s defense — they have a tremendous goalkeeper as well, and it’s difficult to score against.”
High physicality levels were expected because of the rivalry, especially considering the win-or-go-home scenario. The teams combined for 32 fouls with Clemson forward Paige Reckert receiving a red card late in the second overtime period.
“Clemson and South Carolina, it’s all about emotion, obviously,” Daniel said. “I feel like we kept our cool, and obviously, it got heated at times, but with that rivalry you can’t really help it.”
The match was one of only two first round games across the country that pitted top-25 teams against each other, and Clemson head coach Eddie Radwanski believes that’s unfair to both South Carolina and Clemson.
“To be really honest with you, these two teams should not have been playing each other in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.”
With the victory, South Carolina will face Seattle on Friday at 4 p.m.