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South Carolina Women’s Soccer Announces 2011 Schedule
Twelve of 20 fixtures on the road; Home
opener is Sept. 2 vs. Northeastern
COLUMBIA, S.C. –
South Carolina women's soccer coach Shelley Smith announced Saturday a
20-match 2011 schedule that includes the program’s first trip to
the state of Arizona, five fixtures against teams that advanced to last
season’s NCAA Tournament and a Sept. 9 rivalry game at Historic
Riggs Field against Clemson.
“This year's schedule will once again be challenging for our team
and should prepare us well for any post season play,” Smith said.
“We always want to be ready for SEC play, and this schedule will
give us several tests against quality opponents before we begin that
part of the season. It won’t be easy, but I am confident our
players will meet the challenges ahead.”
The Gamecocks open the 2011 season with four consecutive away games as
the team travels to the state of North Carolina for the first weekend
of the season before flying out west for the second weekend. The season
opener is scheduled for Friday, Aug. 19 at East Carolina before the
team takes on perennial ACC title contender Duke that Sunday in a 4
p.m. match. Carolina then travels the next weekend to the Grand Canyon
State for fixtures against Pac-12 members Arizona and Arizona State.
The Aug. 26 game will be the first meeting between the Gamecocks and
Wildcats, and the Aug. 28 match at Arizona State is the backend of a
home-and-home series that ended in a 1-1 draw at Stone Stadium last
season. The Sun Devils advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second
consecutive year last season.
“Arizona will be an exciting opportunity for our players to
travel across the country to where we have not been before as a
program, and play two strong opponents,” Smith said of the trip.
South Carolina’s home opener is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 2
against Northeastern at 7 p.m. The team then travels to Clemson, S.C.,
for the annual Carolina Cup tournament with matches against the Tigers
and UNC Wilmington. The non-conference schedule ends with home dates
against two teams that won their respective 2010 conference
championships Charlotte (Sept. 15) and Wake Forest (Sept. 18). The
49’ers won the A-10 regular season title, and the match renews a
rivalry between teams that have played eight times the past 15 seasons.
The Demon Deacons won the ACC tournament title, and the match marks the
third straight year that the two teams will meet on the pitch. Wake
Forest defeated South Carolina at Stone Stadium in the 2009 NCAA Round
of 16 by a 1-0 score, and the Gamecocks defeated the Demon Deacons at
Spry Stadium last season by a 1-0 score.
“We know Clemson will be difficult at their place,” Smith
said. “It is such a big rivalry game, so there is always a lot of
emotion. The Carolina Cup will be another great opportunity
to showcase some strong Division I teams from the Carolinas,
highlighted by our rivalry game with Clemson on Friday night.”
The SEC slate begins with a road weekend at Tennessee (Sept. 23) and
Georgia (Sept. 25) before the Gamecocks face a four-match homestand
featuring Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Alabama and Auburn. Four of the final
five games will come on the road, beginning with a trip to the Magnolia
State and fixtures against Mississippi State (Oct. 14) and Ole Miss
(Oct. 16) before Thursday night match at LSU (Oct. 20). The regular
season home finale will see Arkansas travel to Stone Stadium on Oct. 23
before the Gamecocks travel to Florida for the final game of the season
on Oct. 28.
“Our conference schedule is always demanding, especially in a
year like this when we play an additional away game,” Smith said.
“We will need to play consistently and get results on the road as
we face top opponents throughout the season.”
The SEC Tournament will again be held at the Orange Beach Soccer
Complex in Orange Beach, Ala., with the quarterfinal round scheduled to
begin Wed., Nov. 2. The tournament final will be broadcast live on
ESPNU on Sunday, Nov. 6.
South Carolina went 15-6-4 last season and finished as the SEC
tournament and regular season runner-up with a record of 8-2-1 against
conference opponents. South Carolina appeared in the SEC Tournament
title match for the second consecutive year, falling by a 1-0 score due
to an own goal. Carolina lost six letterwinners from last year’s
team and will welcome seven newcomers in 2011. The Gamecocks return
seven starters from last year’s squad including NSCAA
All-American Kayla Grimsley and All-SEC selections Ellen Fahey and
Danielle Au.
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