The South Carolina women’s soccer team lost 2-1 to the No. 7 Wake Forest Demon Deacons in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The game against the Demon Deacons marked the 13th consecutive season that South Carolina has reached the NCAA tournament, but it was the first time since 2021 that the team was on the road in the first round.
Entering the match, the Gamecocks had advanced past the first round of the NCAA Tournament in each of the past nine seasons. For Wake Forest, the Demon Deacons showed success in the postseason last year, as its season ended with a 1-0 loss to North Carolina in the championship game.
Wake Forest got on the board in the 15th minute of the match when freshman forward Kylie Maxwell scored off of a corner kick. The Gamecocks were unable to clear the crossed ball out of their defensive box, resulting in Maxwell being able to finish after the ball was dancing on the goal line.
South Carolina was presented with a key opportunity to knot the game in the 23rd minute when a foul drawn by sophomore forward Katie Shea Collins resulted in a free kick right outside the 18-yard box. The insinuating set-piece shot went wide right of the net.
South Carolina continued to stay dangerous during the remainder of the first half, as it dominated time of possession paired with a couple of scoring chances.
Wake Forest held onto its 1-0 lead heading into the break, with the teams recording four shots apiece after 45 minutes of play. Dating back to Oct. 19, this was South Carolina's seventh consecutive scoreless half.
In the 60th minute, the Demon Deacons extended their lead to 2-0 off of another corner kick. Similarly to the first goal of the match, the Gamecocks failed to get the ball out of harm's way after the initial cross, but this time, it was junior defender Sammi Wiemann who netted the goal.
Shortly after, South Carolina crept back into the game in the 64th minute after junior midfielder Cuyler Zulauf scored from well beyond the 18-yard box. The shot found its way into the top of the net, putting the Gamecocks back within one goal from tying.
In the 68th minute, freshman forward Mackenzie Johnson almost found the equalizing goal after her shot hit the right post.
The Gamecock defense held strong in the 78th minute of the match, as Wake Forest had three dangerous attempts to score inside of the box. The defense blocked all three of the chances by putting their bodies in front of these shots to prevent them from even reaching the net.
South Carolina was unable to find the equalizing goal in the remaining minutes of the game, resulting in a 2-1 loss.
Set-piece struggles
Both of the goals scored by Wake Forest were a result of a corner kick, showing that these set pieces played a critical part in the game. The goals were similar in the way that the initial shot was blocked on the goal line, but the grittiness of the Demon Deacons helped find the back of the net.
Wake Forest attempted four corner kicks during the match, with redshirt sophomore defender Sierra Sythe consistently providing troubling service balls for the South Carolina defense to handle.
Modest attack
During 90 minutes of play, South Carolina was able to muster 12 shots in total, with four of those going on frame. South Carolina also recorded the same number of corner kicks as Wake Forest, four, but were unable to score any goals off of them.
South Carolina was able to create multiple scoring chances throughout the course of the game but were unable to find the back of the net, aside from Zulauf’s shot.
End of the season
With the 2-1 loss to Wake Forest, the NCAA Tournament defeat put an end to the Gamecocks’ season.
South Carolina ended its season 10-5-5, marking the 13th consecutive season that the program has won double-digit games. The loss marked the first time since 2015 that South Carolina was unable to advance past the first round of the NCAA Tournament.