When USF and No. 18 South Carolina met at Stone Stadium Thursday, something had to give. Both teams entered the contest with unbeaten records and, barring a tie, one would leave with a singular blemish on its record.
The Gamecocks were on the right end of the scoreboard when all was said and done, emerging from the match 1-0 winners with a still-unbeaten 6-0-1 mark.
“Big credit to our players that put that ball away to give us the lead,” coach Shelley Smith said. “Obviously it was a defensive effort all around for both teams.”
South Carolina’s game-winning score came in the 63rd minute when freshman phenom Daija Griffin collected a rebound in the box and calmly pushed the shot into the back of the net.
In her first year with the team, the forward said she has seen herself improve and adjust to the collegiate game more in each of the Gamecocks’ seven matches so far.
“Every game I feel myself getting even better and better with the team,” Griffin said.
The goal was Griffin’s second of the season in her first campaign with the Gamecocks, giving her the second-most total goals on the team, just one less than senior Danielle Au and sophomore Raina Johnson.
“I think [Griffin] and all the freshman have done a great job to come in and give us tremendous minutes,” Smith said. “They have different strengths they bring to the field and they’re learning to work with each other.”
The shot count for Thursday’s match was a misleading one, as the Bulls outshot South Carolina 12-6 in the Gamecocks’ one-goal victory.
Despite getting doubled-up in the shot column, Smith was pleased with her team’s choice of quality over quantity on the offensive side of the field.
“We got outshot, but a lot of their shots came from long range. So we’re okay with that,” Smith said. “We’ll get outshot by some teams at times, but we want to make the most the most of our chances.”
Smith also expressed a confidence in junior goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo, saying that the Canadian national was more than capable of turning away South Florida’s attempts from outside the box.
D’Angelo recorded six saves on her way to the 13th clean sheet of her career. She currently has the fourth-most shutouts in Gamecock women’s soccer history and can move into a tie for second with just two more goalless outings.
“I know that nothing is going to go through with [D’Angelo],” Griffin said. “Most of the time I know that once the ball gets shot to her, I just have to start looking to run forward because she’s going to kick it off.”
South Carolina is just one game away from the start of SEC play, and a win or a draw against ECU Sunday means an unprecedented unbeaten record in nonconference games.
After surviving a match against USF that was fought tooth and nail throughout, Smith was pleased with the quality of her team’s win Thursday.
“We had to really work hard to defend. They were very technical and very good with the ball and put us under pressure,” Smith said. “Big credit to South Florida. They’re a very, very skilled team.”