USC women’s soccer to host first round NCAA Tournament game

For the third consecutive year, the South Carolina women’s soccer team will play at home in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Gamecocks found out Monday afternoon that they will host UNC Wilmington on Friday at 6 p.m. at Stone Stadium. This marks South Carolina’s eighth trip to the NCAA Tournament in nine years. The Gamecocks reached the Elite Eight a season ago before falling on the road at Florida State.

“We are thrilled to be home,” USC coach Shelley Smith said in a release. “We’ve had a great season and we are rewarded with a home game. To get in the NCAA’s and have a home game is tremendous.”

If the Gamecocks beat UNC Wilmington, they will likely face Virginia, a No. 1 seed, in the second round.

South Carolina will look to bounce back from losing to Auburn in the SEC Tournament with a win against UNCW. The Gamecocks built a 2-0 lead and led for most of regulation before falling to the Tigers in penalty kicks.

“We did a good job of weathering the pressure early on, and I thought we handled ourselves well for the majority of the match. We got the second goal, but we let a team back in and that can’t happen,” Smith said after the game. “It was definitely a tough way to finish the tournament. That was quite a battle. Give Auburn credit, they came out and battled and made it tough to play against.”

South Carolina has one win in its past six matches, but the potential is there for the Gamecocks to go on a run.

USC opened the season 11-1 before a rough stretch and will try to get back to its winning ways during the NCAA Tournament.

The Gamecocks are led by sophomore Savannah McCaskill, who has 10 goals and nine assists. Senior Raina Johnson has added six goals and six assists.

This story was originally published November 9, 2015 at 7:47 PM with the headline "USC women’s soccer to host first round NCAA Tournament game."