SEC Title Journey Begins for Women’s Soccer Tonight
COLUMBIA, S.C (Gamecock Athletics). – No. 19 South Carolina has earned the top seed in the league and will face eight-seed Alabama in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals Wednesday at the Orange Beach Sportsplex in Orange Beach, Ala. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. (ET). Carolina won the regular season meeting between the two teams by a 4-1 margin. South Carolina is in its sixth consecutive SEC Tournament and 10th overall. The Gamecocks are 3-8-4 in the tournament, but the team has advanced to the semifinal round four times in the past five seasons and has advanced to the final in two consecutive years. South Carolina had a draw against Vanderbilt in 2006 leading to a 4-3 decision in penalty kicks. The Gamecocks then won their first tournament match in 2007 with a 2-0 win against Tennessee. In 2009, the Gamecocks defeated Georgia (3-2) and Florida (1-0) before knocking off LSU in penalty kicks (1-1, 8-7 PKs) to win the title. In 2010, the Gamecocks advanced on penalty kicks against Kentucky (1-1, 3-4 PKs) and LSU (1-1, 4-3 PKs) before falling to Florida, 0-1, on an own goal. South Carolina has met Florida the most in the SEC Tournament, going 1-4-0 against the Gators. They have also met Georgia (1-2-0), Tennessee (1-1-0), LSU (0-0-2), Vanderbilt (0-1-1) and Kentucky (0-0-1). It is the first meeting between Alabama and South Carolina in the tournament. South Carolina swept the SEC women’s soccer postseason awards with Shelley Smith being named SEC Coach of the Year, senior Kayla Grimsley being named SEC Offensive Player of the Year, and Sabrina D’Angelo earning the titles of SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year and SEC Freshman of the Year. In total, three Gamecocks were named to the All-SEC teams with Grimsley, D’Angelo and senior Ellen Fahey all earning first team honors. D’Angelo was also named to the SEC All-Freshman Team. In being named SEC Freshman of the Year and SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year, she is the first player in SEC history to earn two Player of the Year honors in the same season.
