A late goal by Bianca Brinson gave the Texas A&M soccer team a 1-0 victory over the South Carolina Gamecocks as well as punched their ticket to the SEC conference tournament final on Sunday.
Assisted by Kelley Monogue in the 87^th minute, Brinson drove her eighth goal of the season past Gamecock goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo to give the Aggies their third consecutive victory over South Carolina in the SEC tournament.
“There was not much time left on the clock and I didn’t want to go to penalty kicks” Brinson said. “Usually, Janae[Cousineau] is in the middle so there was an extra space there. The ball was just coming towards me and, as it was coming closer and closer, I just thought, okay, this is it. I jumped up and it went in.”
South Carolina held a 10-8 shot advantage over the Aggies in the semifinal matchup, yet fell to 13-5-3 on the year and were eliminated after being shutout by A&M goalkeeper Jordan Day. Day recorded four saves in the match.
Brinson recorded just one shot in the match during her 69 minutes of play, but it gave the Aggies an extended stay in Orange Beach, Alabama, host site of the conference tournament.
A&M will play the winner of Tennessee and Kentucky on Sunday for a chance claim both the regular season and conference tournament champions for 2014.
“If I haven’t said how much I love being in the SEC,” A&M head coach G Guerrieri said. “Let me say it one more time. For all of Texas A&M, it has just been a wonderful ride. Being a part of this conference is huge, so to be able to play for another championship on Sunday at the beach, it’s a pretty good deal. Whether it’s Tennessee or Kentucky, we know that we’ll have our hands full. These are two teams that are playing really well right now. They may be the two hottest teams besides us in the conference. It will be a great game. We’re looking forward to the challenge and we’re looking forward to a day off tomorrow.”
Brinson, a senior, will be playing in her last conference game before the Aggies participate in the NCAA Tournament.
“It’s a big win and now we just have to worry about recovery and getting ourselves healthy for Sunday’s game” Brinson said. “We’re pumped and we’re ready.”
The match is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Sunday and will air on ESPNU.