The South Carolina women’s team won 3-0 against the No. 1 seed Mississippi State Bulldogs Thursday afternoon.
The Gamecocks advances to the SEC tournament championship for the first time since 2022, where the team defeated Alabama 1-0.
Neither team was able to score in the first half as the Bulldogs came out pressing the Gamecocks and forced South Carolina to commit turnovers and fouls.
Both teams were unable to generate shots and dribbled the ball back and forth around midfield with no success of entering the box. This was until Mississippi State attempted a goal that was saved by junior goalkeeper Christina Tsaousis.
Freshman forward Katie Shae Collins followed up the Bulldogs’ attempt with a shot that was saved by the Bulldogs. The Gamecocks would not attempt another shot on goal for the rest of the half.
The Bulldogs continued its pressure on the Gamecocks’ defense, earning two corner kicks alongside four shots. Mississippi State attempted shots from further out due to the cushion that the Gamecocks defense gave as the team defended closer to its goal. The Gamecocks were able to stop the Bulldogs' offense, and the half ended 0-0.
South Carolina regained control offensively early in the second half. The Bulldogs started with possession, but it was the Gamecocks that scored to open the second half.
The Gamecocks dribbled the ball downfield into the box and fifth-year forward Catherine Barry passed to Collins who then passed to fifth-year midfielder Brianna Behm who scored the opening goal of the match.
Behm scored another goal assisted by senior midfielder Lily Render a minute after her previous one thanks to a corner kick. South Carolina continued its pressure on defense against Mississippi State and accumulated two more fouls and a yellow card for Behm at the 59-minute mark.
The defense continued to prevail and allowed two shots, neither of them being on target with the goal halfway through the second half. The Bulldogs attempted a free kick in the 67th minute that sailed towards the top right of the goal but was saved by Tsaousis.
The Bulldogs stayed persistent in trying to score for the first time of the night with a corner kick that missed near the goal. This was followed up with an additional miss out top right from Mississippi State. With twelve minutes remaining, the Bulldogs drove down the field and attempted two additional shots that missed.
The Gamecocks responded with two shot-on-goal attempts on Mississippi State from Collins and Barry. Barry was fouled from behind dribbling inside the box that resulted in a penalty kick and scored with 10 minutes left in the game to give the Gamecocks a 3-0 lead.
The Bulldogs attempted a final corner kick at 83 minutes that missed to ensure the shutout for the Gamecocks. The game came to a halt with 26 seconds left as freshman midfielder Kara Harris for the Bulldogs went down with an injury late in the game. Gamecock players went over to offer sympathy as she was carted off the field.
A tale of two halves
South Carolina started the game slow offensively and had to defend for the majority of the first half. The Gamecocks were only able to muster a single shot attempt that was saved in the beginning of the first half.
Mississippi State controlled the game with consistent pressure against South Carolina's press and forced the Gamecocks to play physical back that resulted in four fouls in the first half. The Gamecocks came out during the second half on defense but didn't stay on it for long after Behm scored back to back goals in the first five minutes of the half.
Later in the half, Barry was able to extend the lead to 3 points over a team that had allowed only five goals over 18 regular season games this season.
Brianna Behm breakout game
Behm came into this game with two total goals scored this season. Tonight, she doubled her amount of goals in the semi-final game against the Bulldogs.
The fifth-year midfielder played a prominent role in the offense, scoring two thirds of the team's goals to put the Gamecocks over the Bulldogs a cushion in the second half.
Behm was able to convert on most of her goal attempts and used the attention put on the duo of Barry and Collins to score.
Defensive effort
Coming into this game, the Bulldogs were able to score in every game it played this season. The Gamecocks were able to shut out Mississippi State despite the team's 11 shot attempts and two shots on goal.
South Carolina limited the amount of close shot attempts by playing an aggressive brand of soccer, pressuring the Bulldogs and intercepting the passes close to the goal. Despite the difference in goals scored during the second half between the two, Mississippi State also had seven shots in the second half.
Tsaousis saved both of the only goal attempts to ensure the shutout for the Gamecocks.
What's next?
Catch the Gamecocks in the SEC title match against the winner of Arkansas and Texas at 2 p.m. Sunday Nov. 10 on SEC Network.