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Carolina Remains Perfect in SEC Play
Women's Soccer  . 

Carolina Remains Perfect in SEC Play

LEXINGTON, Ky. – No. 7 South Carolina women’s soccer (11-1-0, 5-0-0 SEC) picked up its third-straight 1-0 win on Thursday night on the road against Kentucky (5-7-2, 0-5-0 SEC). Junior forward Ryan Gareis scored her fourth goal of the season to seal the Carolina win.
 
The win for the Gamecocks is the fourth-straight shutout over the Wildcats. Gareis’ goal also gives the Gamecocks four different individuals with four goals this season.
 
“Definitely happy to get another road victory in the SEC,” South Carolina head coach Shelley Smith said. “I think we made it a little bit harder on ourselves at times, but we always talk about it being a learning experience and we know we need to be better next time out. We also created some very good opportunities, and their goalkeeper made some great saves to keep them in it. We scored a great goal, and we need to do more of that moving forward.”
 
Gareis’ goal came 25 minutes into the first half and is the first game-winning goal of her junior campaign. She was set up by a brilliant combination from sophomore Samantha Chang and senior Elexa Bahr who fed a streaking Gareis who beat Kentucky’s goalkeeper who had come off her line.
 
“The combo of Ryan [Gareis], Elexa [Bahr] and [Luciana Zullo] is so dangerous,” Smith added. “We ask a lot of them to get forward, be creative and work back and defend. We try to get them rest, but they’ve been our most dangerous attackers time and time again this season.”
 
Carolina has now started four of the past five seasons with an 11-1-0 record or better and the 5-0-0 start in conference is the third time in four years Carolina has started perfect through five matches. The Gamecock defense combined for another shutout, the eighth of the season and the seventh for Mikayla Krzeczowski to put her at 41 for her career, the 16th most in NCAA history.
 
“Our defense did a great job at limiting their opportunities,” Smith said. “Overall, we did a good job keeping the ball and stifling their attack for the majority of the match.”
 
The Gamecocks return home to take on Vanderbilt on Sun., Oct. 13, at 3 p.m. The match will be televised on SEC Network between the Gamecocks and the defending SEC regular season champions.
 
For more information on the Gamecocks, continue to check back with GamecocksOnline.com. Subscribe to South Carolina on Stanza to get schedule updates directly in your calendars.
 
Season tickets are on sale now, with soccer fans yet again getting a great deal. For $25 for adults and $10 for youth 17 and under, purchasers receive a season ticket to every women and men’s soccer match this season. To take advantage of the offer, click here, call 800-472-3267 or visit GamecocksOnline.com/Tickets.
 
Keep up with Carolina women’s soccer on Twitter and Instagram (@GamecockWSoccer) and on Facebook, so you do not miss any content during the 2019 season.