SEC champion South Carolina women’s soccer chosen as No. 2 seed for NCAA Tournament
When South Carolina women’s soccer coach Shelley Smith went to bed Sunday evening — after the Gamecocks won their first SEC tournament championship in a decade — she was convinced of a few things: USC would be in the NCAA Tournament and it would host a first round game.
Beyond that, though, she was just eager to see the draw.
The field of 64 was released Monday. South Carolina, despite a 16-1-3 run through the regular season, was selected as a No. 2 seed. The four No. 1s went to Stanford (18-1) and three ACC schools — Florida State (15-5), Virginia (16-1-3) and North Carolina (19-1-1).
“In my mind, I thought we worked hard to try to get a 1- or 2-seed,” Smith said outside Stone Stadium, with the recently captured SEC trophy on display for those who joined the Gamecocks for a selection show watch party. “I also know how competitive it is. If you saw those 1-seeds, they’re all excellent teams. There was a lot of teams that had strong years.
“We know we’re up against the ACC. That’s always very highly touted. Those teams are all excellent. ... We’re happy to put ourselves in position to compete and be home.”
USC hosts Southern Conference champion Samford (13-3-5) in a first round game at 6 p.m. Saturday. The winner plays the winner of Notre Dame-Saint Louis in the second round. UVa is the No. 1 seed in South Carolina’s region.
The Gamecocks are in the Big Dance for a program-record seventh straight season, and for the 12th time in 13 seasons.
“It doesn’t seem that long ago that we were sitting here waiting to see if we could even get in,” said Smith, USC’s coach since 2001. “The fact we can sit here and know we’re in and we’re just seeing if we can get a (national) seed and know we’re home, that’s so nice.
“You’re never really used to it. The days where we had to wait anxiously were pretty tough. So we’re very thankful for this. To put ourselves in this position year after year, we’re very proud of this team, this coaching staff and the whole group that helps all year.”
South Carolina, College Cup participants in 2017, didn’t allow a goal in its three-game SEC Tournament run. The Gamecocks have 14 shutouts this season.
“We hoped for it (a 1-seed), maybe, but we’re happy with a 2,” said senior defender Grace Fisk. “A 2’s still really good. The NCAA obviously makes the decisions. We’ll stick with it and we’ll move forward and we’re excited with who we’re matched up against. ... We’re obviously going to take it one game at a time and just go with it.”
This story was originally published November 11, 2019 at 6:06 PM.
