No. 10 South Carolina women’s soccer team knocks off No. 8 Auburn

South Carolina forwards Savannah McCaskill and Raina Johnson both notched first-half goals to lead the No. 10 Gamecocks (11-1-1, 5-0-1 SEC) to a 2-0 win over No. 8 Auburn (11-2-0, 4-2 SEC) on Thursday night at Stone Stadium.

With the victory, South Carolina pushed its unbeaten streak to 10 matches and remained atop the league standings.

The match was the first USC contest held since the devastating statewide flooding.

“It was definitely not our normal preparation for the game,” USC coach Shelley Smith said. “We weren’t together as much this week leading up to the match, but the team did very well to come together. We are a resilient group, and we’ve had to deal with stuff before. Our senior leadership took control, and I am thankful we were able to get the win tonight against a good Auburn team.”

The Gamecocks struck early when McCaskill registered her team-leading ninth goal in the 10th minute. Defender Caroline Gray provided the assist. Less than 10 minutes later it was McCaskill who set up Johnson.

USC sophomore goalkeeper Abbey Crider (6-0-0) had three saves.

The Gamecocks play at Ole Miss at 8 p.m. Sunday.

This story was originally published October 8, 2015 at 10:27 PM with the headline "No. 10 South Carolina women’s soccer team knocks off No. 8 Auburn."