Team beats Florida Gators 2-1 for Southeastern title
For the second time in three years, South Carolina’s women’s soccer team is champion of the Southeastern Conference.
Playing on the road against No. 18 Florida in a rematch of last year’s title game, the No. 22 Gamecocks jumped out in front early and managed to subdue a potential Gator comeback, holding on for a 2-1 victory to claim the first regular season championship in program history.
“We’ve been able to improve each year,” coach Shelley Smith said. “To do what we’ve done the last couple years, to get this close to a regular season championship and come down to the last game and fall short, it means the world to come in here and finally accomplish that.”
Carolina didn’t wait long to get its offense into a rhythm, sparked in the third minute by Florida native Kayla Grimsley. Gaining possession of the ball at the top of the UF box, USC’s career scoring leader fired a shot into the far corner for her 10th goal of the year, giving the Gamecocks an early 1-0 lead.
“It makes a huge difference to come in and score and put Florida on their back foot instead of us,” Smith said. “When you get goals early against any opponent it’s a much better situation. The way we defend, we had confidence going forward that we could keep that lead.”
The offense capitalized once again in the 22nd minute. Running onto a long pass from Christa Neary, Danielle Au managed to head the ball just over UF keeper Taylor Burke, extending Carolina’s lead to 2-0.
“Sometimes bounces go your way,” Smith said. “Danielle’s goal to put us up [showed] it was just our night. It wasn’t a perfect header, but it was something on frame. We’ll take it.”
The Gators didn’t go away quietly, recording four shots over the remainder of the half, including a header goal by Tahnai Annis in the 36th minute that cut the lead to 2-1.
Florida continued to keep up the offensive pressure in the second half, posting four shots and earning two corner kicks. The Gators (14-6, 7-4) nearly knotted it up on one of those corners when Holly King placed a header on frame. USC’s defense managed to deflect it away, however, before clearing the ball up the field.
The shot would prove to be Florida’s last of the night, allowing Carolina (15-5, 9-2) to hold on for its first ever win in Gainesville and earn sole possession of the regular season conference title.
“We had the confidence, we had the teamwork and everything going into this game, and we knew for the first time in at least four years that Florida was scared to play us,” Grimsley said. “We came out in the second half and weren’t going to let them win. We didn’t want to share the title. We did what we had to do.”
The victory gives the Gamecocks the No. 1 seed heading into this week’s SEC Tournament at Orange Beach, Ala., where they will kick off the weekend against Alabama. Despite holding the top spot in the bracket for the first time in program history, Smith said the team’s expectations won’t be any different than they’ve been all season.
“All year they’ve focused on their goals and trying to win an SEC championship, and it came because we got the job done every night,” Smith said. “We decided and were determined to make sure every minute counted. That’s what we need to do this week.”