South Carolina women's soccer came ready to go for their first SEC game of the season, taking the 3-0 win against the Georgia Bulldogs.
Despite having key players out on defense, the Gamecocks kept pressure on Georgia’s offense the entirety of the game and kept South Carolina offense in control.
“I thought we came with the right attitude and stuck with it and did what they needed to do to find a way to win," Coach Shelley Smith said, addressing South Carolina’s overall performance.
In the first 11 minutes, South Carolina showed just how ready they were to bounce back after their 1-0 loss to Clemson on Sunday. The Gamecock offense came out strong and out shot the Bulldogs 3-0. Nothing slowed down for the Gamecocks, as they only allowed three shots to be taken by Georgia, none of which resulted in a score.
With eight minutes left, South Carolina took a 1-0 lead as sophomore forward Riley Tanner was assisted by freshman forward Camryn Dixon to score the first goal of the game.
South Carolina continued to push forward after junior Lauren Chang missed a penalty kick but scored off of Georgia goalie Emory Wegener’s block.
“Right when it came off my foot I hit it way too much towards my heel, so it wasn’t where I was supposed to hit it, but, [I] just rolled with the punches, understood that I got a second chance and made sure I didn’t make the same mistake twice,” Chang said after the game.
The Gamecocks led 2-0 at the half.
After keeping possession for 62% of the first half, South Carolina wasted no time getting its offense started again at the beginning of the second half. Chang scored her second goal of the night putting the Gamecocks up 3-0 with 40 minutes left in the game.
“I felt like I was a good distance out to take a chance," Chang said. "Luckily the girl was forcing me on my left foot, and that's my dominate foot, and I was like, 'Why not take a chance?'"
Georgia continued to struggle to get its offense going despite taking six shots in the second half. However, Georgia’s defense was able to step up and keep the Gamecocks from scoring again for the remainder of the game.
Critical Player
Chang shined as the game’s key player for the Gamecocks, scoring two out of South Carolina’s three goals. Not only did she have the most goals scored tonight, she now also holds the Gamecocks’ season record for most goals, passing senior forward Elexa Bahr.
Observations
Gamecocks started the game with a sense of offensive urgency that continued for the entire game. They dominated the first half after doubling the amount of shots taken (6-3) and outscored the Bulldogs 2-0. Nothing changed in the second half as South Carolina outscored the Bulldogs 1-0 to seal the win.
“You have to realize the spaces that a team is going to give you, and we knew we'd have some options," Smith said when addressing the offensive urgency of the Gamecocks. "We had to be able to take care of the ball and get past that line of pressure and also not give them the ball."
What’s Next?
Next game for South Carolina women soccer will be at Alabama on Sept. 26 at 8 p.m. The game can be seen on SEC Network+.
Alabama is 5-2-1 for the season and will be going into the game against South Carolina after a 3-1 win over North Texas. A key player to keep an eye out for is sophomore forward Riley Mattingly, who leads the team with four goals.
Next home game for the Gamecocks is Sept. 29 against No. 16 Arkansas at 2 p.m.