South Carolina women's soccer clinched an undefeated SEC conference schedule at 7-0-3 and moves to 13-1-3 on the year with a 2-0 defeat of the Auburn Tigers.
The women jumped ahead early in the match and kept Auburn at bay with stout defense in the second half.
South Carolina came out fast-paced on offense, scoring both of their goals in a seven-minute burst halfway through the first half. The team also finished with a 13-to-four advantage in shots and a four-to-two advantage in shots on goal.
Elexa Bahr scored the first goal for the Gamecocks in the 25th minute with a strike down the center of the goal. The goal is Bahr’s sixth of the season and was assisted by Lauren Chang and Luciana Zullo.
The second goal of the night was scored by Anna Patten in the 31st minute as she put the ball through into the upper left corner. Lauren Chang had her second assist of the night which are also her first two of the season.
Goalkeeper for the Gamecocks, Mikayla Krzeczowski, finishes her senior regular season with 44 career shutouts, which is top-15 all-time in NCAA Division I history. The senior also recorded two saves on the night.
South Carolina was able to fight through a physical defense from the Tigers as they recorded nine fouls as opposed to the Gamecocks' four.
With the regular season coming to a close, the Gamecocks now look forward to the SEC tournament that begins next week in Orange Beach, Alabama. South Carolina goes into the week with high hopes after earning a first-round bye and the No. 3 seed in the tournament.
The Gamecocks' next outing will be against No. 6 seed Georgia on Tuesday, Nov. 5 in the second round of the tournament. Fittingly, their first conference game of the season was against the Bulldogs, a game in which the Gamecocks won 3-0. The team looks to have similar success in their conference tournament opener, and will surely rely on seniors Elexa Bahr and Mikayla Krzeczowski to make a deep run in the tournament.