The No. 4 South Carolina women's soccer team drew 0-0 with North Carolina State at Stone Stadium on Sunday. The Gamecocks started the game aggressive on offense, leading the Wolfpack in shots on goal, and continued its undefeated start to the season.
Gamecocks fans packed Stone Stadium and cheered loudly supporting their undefeated, highly ranked team in a sea of garnet and black.
The star of the night for South Carolina was junior forward Catherine Barry. Barry led the team in shots on goal with four and recorded two fouls, evidence of her impact on both ends of the field.
“She's a threat always in the attack, it makes her a great forward,” head coach Shelley Smith said. “She's hard to shut down, I think they did a good job today to do that.”
Wolfpack junior goalkeeper Maria Echezarreta helped keep NC State in the game and stop the Gamecocks' offensive attack, which had a total of 16 shots on goal in the game.
Freshman midfielder Shay Montgomery showed her ability to improve every game and was a dominant force for the Gamecocks. Montgomery had the second-most shots on goal in the match, behind Barry with three.
“Shay did well, every game she gets a bit better as a freshman, she gets used to the level, the speed of play,” Smith said. “She's honestly gotten a lot of minutes just because every game she's gotten a little bit more comfortable, which is nice. We know the kind of player she is and it's been good to get her time and get her used to the game as she gets closer to SEC play.”
The South Carolina defense continued its dominant start to the season and held the Wolfpack attack in check. Senior goalkeeper Heather Hinz anchored the defense with one save and earned her sixth clean sheet of the season.
The back-and-forth game was evenly matched and the game remained scoreless through the second half. South Carolina’s offense was fired up but was unable to find a way past the Wolfpack defense.
“We didn't execute well in the final third,” Smith said following the draw. “We didn't take advantage of the space that was given today. Unfortunately, we didn't get the goal because of it, but I thought our team played extremely well to keep the ball, to defend and to really not give them any opportunities."
After 90 intense minutes of play, neither team was able to find the net, leaving the game in a draw.
The Gamecocks (5-0-3) will travel to Tuscaloosa, Alabama to open SEC play Thursday at 7 p.m against the Alabama Crimson Tide.