In a game of possession, South Carolina had to scrap up a late second half a penalty goal in order to pull out a victory against Colorado, winning 1-0.
“We’re thrilled to be moving on, and very excited for this opportunity,” head coach Shelley Smith said. “I thought it was another tremendous game for our team. We knew we would have a huge matchup against Colorado, so credit to them.”
Colorado came into the game no stranger to top-ranked teams. They had to face five ranked teams in their Pac-12 gauntlet, four of which were in the top-10, and pulled out a 2-2-1 record in those games. The Buffaloes advanced to matchup against the Gamecocks after beating Oklahoma State 3-1.
While freshman Mikayla Krzeczowski had to make three saves in the first 45 minutes, it was a rather calm half for South Carolina’s defense.
On the Colorado side of the field, the offense came in spurts.
A corner from senior Chelsea Drennen in the 16th minute hit senior Paige Bendell’s noggin in the box, saved by the Buffalo’s Jalen Tompkins, then bounced near the goal line for a second before a Colorado defender cleared it to end the attack.
Again, in the 35th minute, a similar chance occurred for South Carolina.
Senior Daiji Griffen had her shot blocked but not cleared, and the ball hung around the white line in front of the goal only to be cleared by a Colorado defender once again conveniently placed on the net line. This time, the clearance didn’t make it outside the box, and McCaskill tried to backheel in a goal. The shot didn’t have enough power to make it through the defense, though, and Tompkins handled it well to contain the danger.
Second half was much of the same. South Carolina had some chances with crosses being played in the box, but they all resulted in scoreless efforts.
It took the Gamecocks to gain a foul inside the Buffaloes’ box in the 74th minute for South Carolina to break the seal. After Jess Orejel was issued a yellow card for her tackle inside 18 yards, senior Sophie Groff step up and pocketed the penalty kick past Tompkins even though the goal scorer started to feel some cramping beforehand.
“After I got my cramp, I got stretched out, and I was like, ‘You know what, it’s fine. I want it,’” she said. “I was feeling it. My whole team has a lot of faith in me with (penalties). I was just feeling it.”
The back four and Krzeczowski did well to contain the two-headed attacking Buffalo in Danica Evans and Taylor Kornieck. The two each had 11 goals on the season, while adding six and four assists, respectively. Tonight, they combined for five shots with only one of them being on goal.
South Carolina’s star forward Savannah McCaskill had a particularly difficult night. Even though she did create some chances, the Buffalo defense had her number all night, especially in the second half when she hit the ground multiple times due to hard fouls. However, she influenced the game by being a constant nuisance to defenses.
“Defense has to worry about her all the time,” coach Smith said. “When she has the ball at her feet, she finds a way to find open players. If she runs behind, she’s trying to slash across teams. She’s getting out wide to look to service. She finds a way to open up the game.”
The Gamecocks’ Sweet 16 opponent will be BYU, who ended the year only one spot behind South Carolina at No. 4. The game is Saturday at 4 p.m.