The No. 8 South Carolina women’s soccer team continued their undefeated season Sunday afternoon as they took down Kentucky 3-0.
It took a while for the offense to heat up. The Gamecocks outshot Kentucky 14-2 in the first half, although the game remained scoreless. Kentucky goalkeeper Evangeline Soucie made some great saves to keep zeroes on the scoreboard.
The first goal of the game came 11 minutes into the second half. Junior forward Savannah McCaskill completed a beautiful pass to senior Sophie Groff to set up a scoring opportunity. The kick went off the post, but Groff was there for her own rebound to reach the back of the net. This was her third goal of the season.
South Carolina got on the board again when Kaleigh Kurtz sent a rocket into the net, unassisted, scoring her first goal of the year.
The Gamecocks were firing on all cylinders when McCaskill set up another opportunity for the Gamecocks, and Lindsey Lane took advantage of it to give the Gamecocks a 3-0 lead in the 67th minute.
Although it took a while for the offense to start connecting, South Carolina head coach Shelley Smith was not overly concerned: “We put ourselves in position to score in the first half, but that’s where you don’t get anxious or frustrated, and if you stick with it, eventually it’s going to go into the net. If you can do that, then there’s a good chance you’re going to win a game, if you can make sure that you’re not panicking — because those chances will come — and you hope you find the back of the net.”
South Carolina ended up outshooting Kentucky 25-2.
Freshman goalkeeper Mikayla Krzeczowski had another outstanding game. She made two saves on her way to her fourth shutout of the season.
While the offense started off slow, the defense stayed consistently hot from start to finish. Kentucky did not record their first shot on goal until the 37th minute. Kentucky took a header just a minute later, but it was blocked by Krzeczowski. Those were the team's only two attempts on net of the game.
McCaskill continued her dominance in Sunday’s matchup. She recorded two assists, bringing her to 26 points through 11 games this year and maintaining her ranking as second in the nation in points.
South Carolina improves to 10-0-1 on the year — their only blemish the tie against Oklahoma that started their season. They head to Texas A&M on Sept. 29 to try to continue their historic season.