 "Photo: Sam Bennett/The Daily Gamecock")
With the 2009 SEC title on the line, the South Carolina women’s soccer team came up short on Friday, losing at Florida 3-0. With their second straight loss, the Gamecocks finish the season 15-3-1 overall and 7-3-1 in the conference.
“We had some good chances and played hard,” USC coach Shelley Smith said. “But you can’t give them the chances we did tonight because they’ll take advantage of those opportunities.”
Carolina entered the match without sophomore defender Ellen Fahey, who was serving a suspension after receiving a red card in the previous match at LSU. Her presence was certainly missed, as the Gamecock defense faced heavy pressure all night.
The Gators’ first strike came 19 minutes in, when midfielder McKenzie Barney scored on a header after teammate Erika Tymrak’s shot deflected off the crossbar. The next one came five minutes later, when confusion in Carolina’s penalty box led to Barney’s second goal of the night.
The Gamecock offense managed to put up some pressure as well, getting off six shots and receiving two corner kicks in the first half. They had their share of free kicks as well, as the Gators opted to foul sophomore forward Kayla Grimsley every time she got the ball near the goal.
“Kayla has to know that’s what they had to do because she is good on the ball. You just have to weather that as a player,” Smith said. “When that happens, we have to take advantage of our set piece opportunities.”
Carolina came up short on its opportunities, however, as senior midfielder Kim Miller had a 20-yard shot saved by keeper Katie Fraine and sophomore midfielder Kortney Rhoades had her 22-yard shot bounce off the crossbar.
As the match shifted to the second half, the Gamecocks continued to come close on their offensive chances. With 16 minutes remaining, Grimsley finally broke loose from the Florida defense, running on to a pass from senior defender Samantha Diaz-Matosas. As she closed in on it, however, Fraine ran out to make a sliding save.
Just four minutes later, Carolina had another scoring opportunity when senior defender Blakely Mattern found Diaz-Matosas cutting through the Florida penalty box. The Gator defense came up strong again however, knocking the ball away on a slide tackle.
With three minutes to play, Florida put the finishing touches on the win, scoring on a header by midfielder Holly King to make it 3-0.
Despite the loss, however, the Gamecocks come away from the 2009 regular season with the best single-season record in the history of the program. Behind a strong performance in one of the best conferences in the country, they finish the season in second place in the SEC East standings.
“You lose sight of the great season you’ve had after you lose two in a row,” Smith said. “They have to remember how strong of a team they are. The score doesn’t reflect the game tonight, and they have to realize a lot of teams had a tough time playing here.”
As the focus turns to the SEC Tournament in Orange Beach, Ala., Carolina will look to move past its final two matches as it prepares to face Georgia.
“We’re looking forward to next season, which is at Orange Beach,” Smith said. “We’ll refocus, regroup and learn from this.”
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