No. 15 Gamecocks host No. 21 NC State Thursday night
No. 15 South Carolina women’s soccer takes on No. 21 NC State on Thur., Aug. 22, at 7 p.m. on SEC Network in a highly-anticipated season opener. The Gamecocks will then take on William and Mary on Sun., Aug. 25, at 7 p.m. to wrap up their opening weekend.
“We’re really excited to get this season started. We know the SEC is a tough conference top to bottom, and we will be challenged all season long,” head coach Shelley Smith said. “We are thankful for the respect, but now we want to make sure we go out and earn that respect and ranking throughout the season.”
The Gamecocks return nine starters from its final match of the 2018 season. Last season, the Gamecock fielded one of the youngest teams in the country with 26 underclassmen. This season Carolina will have a total of 16 underclassmen, along with five seniors and nine juniors. Carolina will be led by its five seniors who all have started at least 20 matches in their career.
In 2018, the Gamecocks reached the NCAA Second Round as a No. 3 seed, falling to the No. 2 seed, Penn State. The Gamecocks finished in a tie for third in the SEC regular season and appeared in the SEC Tournament semifinals.
