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Gamecocks stonewall feisty Tigers
USC again rides its defense to victory, its third win in the past five meetings with rival Clemson
Written by JOHN DEVLIN
Special to The State
Posted on 09.06.08
CommentsThough Clemson still enjoys a 10-4 edge against South Carolina in women’s soccer, the era of Tigers domination is on the wane.
The Gamecocks beat Clemson 1-0 Friday night at Eugene E. Stone III Stadium in the first round of the Carolina’s Cup tournament. After losing eight of the first nine meetings in the series, South Carolina has won three of the past five — all at The Graveyard.
Midfielder Lindsay Small tallied the lone goal in the 48th minute, capping a play that started deep in the Gamecocks end. Brooke Jacobs ran down an angle pass from Kayla Grimsley and gained control just before the ball rolled over the end line. She sent a centering pass into the box that freshman Kira Campbell slipped back to Grimsley who beat Clemson keeper Paula Pritzen with a low shot into the right corner.
“I didn’t have any of the hard work to do,” said Small, a junior who scored her first collegiate goal in USC’s previous match against Boston University.
“I was just in the right place to get the pass. Kira could just as easily taken the shot and scored, but that just shows the unselfishness on this team. It’s always exciting when you beat Clemson.”
The Gamecocks are off to a 3-0-1 start and have yet to yield a goal.
“Defense is always going to be the foundation of our success, but we’re starting to get scoring from different people and that is a real plus for our team,” USC coach Shelley Smith said. “Lindsay’s always been a defensive midfielder, but she has two goals in the last two games. Our performance was excellent tonight against a very good team. We had control of the match a lot of the time, and that’s something we’re striving to do.”
The final score was no indication of the Gamecocks edge in play. South Carolina had a 14-4 advantage in shots and easily could have had two goals in the first half. Midfielder Shannon Bigbie had the best scoring chance before the break, whistling a shot from the left side that hit off the crossbar in the seventh minute. Jacobs had two rapid-fire, close-in chances after a misplay by the Clemson defense, but she couldn’t find the back of the net on either shot.
“South Carolina did a lot of things right, and competed hard,” said first-year Clemson coach Hershey Strosberg, whose team fell to 3-1. “They out-competed us tonight.”
Furman beat Francis Marion 2-1 in the early game.
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