The 2014 SEC women’s soccer tournament continues from Orange Beach, Ala., Friday as No. 7 Texas A&M takes on South Carolina in the semifinals at 3:30 p.m.
The Gamecocks (13-4-3) have four wins in their last six matches and have registered a 5-3-3 record in SEC play. They earned their way to the semifinals with a 2-1 victory over Missouri Wednesday.
Sophie Groff and Savannah McCaskil lead South Carolina offensively with 15 points each. Groff has six goals and three assists on 27 shots this year while McCaskil has five goals and five assists on 53 shots. Chelsea Drennan checks in with the third highest point total at 13 on three goals and seven assists.
In goal for the Gamecocks is Sabrina D’Angelo, the 2013 SEC Defensive Player of the Year who boasts a .59 goals-against average.
The Aggies (16-2-2, 9-1-1 SEC) benefitted from a 3-0 victory over Georgia Wednesday that allowed A&M’s starters to rest their legs.
After the victory over the Bulldogs, A&M head coach G Guerrieri said that the ability to rest players will play dividends down the stretch as the Aggies look to bring home tournament gold.
“A lot of starters got some rest, so we should be fairly fresh on Friday,” Guerrieri said. “[The Georgia] win is nice, but the goal is to win the tournament and we’re going to need great play from everyone to accomplish that goal.”
Jordan Day will be in the net for A&M. Day recorded one save against Georgia, her third in SEC tournament play and 30th of her career.
A&M saw goals from Bianca Brinson, Annie Kunz and Meghan Streight against Georgia, and the team had 16 total shots in the contest, six of which were on target.
Should A&M find success in the semifinals, it will play at 2 p.m. Sunday for the SEC tournament championship. They will face the winner of 10-seed Tennessee and 3-seed Kentucky. A&M will seek to become the first team since Florida won its sixth in a row in 2001 to win back-to-back regular season and conference tournament championships.