The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 30, 2002, Page 7, Image 7
p 7 THE GAMECOCK ♦ Monday, September 30, 2002 GAME SCHEDULE "
■ "V / \ | ' ’V r | WOMEN’S GOLF at Lady Tar Heel Invitational in Chapel Hill, N.C.,
EONTAflT T'TS I_J rn I I j I ^ WOMEN’S TENNIS in Lady Gamecock Classic, Friday-Sunday
UU1MAU1 ' I I I I \ I . V WOMEN’S SOCCER at Kentucky, 7:30 p.m. Friday
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? I \ I L 1 VOLLEYBALL at Arkansas, 8 p.m. Friday
E-mail us at gamecocksports@hotmail.com .M _JL_ FOOTBALL vs. Mississippi State, 1 p.m. Saturday
A HISTORIC VICTORY
PHOTO BY AARON HARK/THE GAMECOCK
Erica Bowie, right, of the USC women’s soccer team, guards the ball from Florida defender Ashley Kellgren during Sunday’s
match at the Graveyard. On the far left is Ashley Williams, who scored the game-winner for Carolina in overtime.
‘ Carolina beats Gators in OT
Honda n
(3-6-1, 0-1 SEC)
St usc i
(8-2,1-0)
BY NICK YOUNG
THE UAMECOCK
At the beginning of the 2002
season, there were only three
SEC teams that the USC wom
* en’s soccer team had yet to de
feat in its history.
After this weekend, that list is
down to two.
In overtime
Sunday at the
Graveyard, USC
sophomore
Ashley Williams
scored a goal at
the 100:07 mark,
and the Gameco
cks defeated the Williams
Florida Gators for
the first time ever. Senior Melinda
Carter assisted on Williams’ goal,
her fifth of the season.
“I feel awesome,” Williams
said. “I've never felt this good be
fore in my life. I didn’t even look;
I just turned and shot.”
After two earlier losses this
season to ranked opponents,
USC was determined to finally
beat a top-25 team.
Things didn’t look so good for
Carolina during the early stages
of the match, though.
During the first half, Florida (3-6
1,0-1 SEC) dominated and showed
why it has won the SEC champi
onship in five of the past six years.
They recorded 11 shots, including
seven on goal, while the
Gamecocks had zero shots.
USC looked anxious and impa
tient on offense but played hard •
defense and frustrated the Gators
by not letting them into the net.
This gave the defense a men
tal boost and fueled Carolina (8-2,
1-0) to the shutout.
“The defense just set out there
and was confident,” goalkeeper
Elise Matthews said. “We’d been
shutting them down the whole
game, and we decided to get a
shutout.”
After halftime, the
Gamecocks came out and looked
like a new team. They had a dif
ferent strategy and appeared to
be more confident.
“We came out in the first half
and held them, so we knew we
could play with these guys, and
we knew we could put pressure
on them,” USC head coach
Shelley Smith said. “In the sec
ond half, I think we needed to
step up our work level, and we
did. We stepped up our pressure
a little bit and just battled.”
After 10 minutes in the second
half, Carolina stepped up its play
and gave themselves the advan
tage for the remainder of the
game. Changing their defensive
game plan from the first half,
USC decided to take some
chances and attack.
The roles were then reversed,
as the Gators were the ones des
perately trying to stop the offen
sive onslaught. Florida was ob
viously frustrated, committing
10 fouls in the second half to the
Gamecocks’ two.
As the half winded down, both
“It’s great to get our
first SEC win against a
team that we’re
expected to lose to.”
SHELLEY SMITH
use WOMEN'S SOCCER HEAD COACH
teams sent last-minute attacks
at each other’s goals only to be
thwarted by the other’s stiff de
fensive play. That led to over
time and Williams’ game-win
ning goal.
“We’re all pretty excited;
they’ve had such a good reign of
the SEC in the past years,” Smith
said. “They’re going to come
back and be one of the top SEC
teams again. It’s great to get our
first SEC win against a team that
we’re expected to lose to.”
The Gamecocks will be on a
two-game road trip this weekend
against Kentucky and
Vanderbilt, and then they return
home to play Arkansas on Oct.
11 at the Graveyard.
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r*
Gamecocks
break even
in SEC play
Football holds off Vanderbilt
BY KYLE ALMOND
THE GAMECOCK
The USC football team won its
first conference game of the sea
son Saturday with a 20-14 victory
at Vanderbilt.
Quarterback Corey Jenkins
passed for 180 yards and rushed
for 97 yards to lead the Gamecocks
(3-2, l-l SEC) to their second win
in aj-ow.
“I thought that our players com
peted very well,” USC head coach
Lou Holtz said. “I compliment
Vanderbilt; I thought they played
well.”
The Gamecocks came into the
game heavily favored; the
Commodores (1-4, 0-3) had lost
their last 11 SEC games.
But Vandy kept things close —
almost a little too close for Holtz.
“It was a game that went back
and forth,” Holtz said. “Vanderbilt
did not make a mistake until the
end.”
Carolina was down 14-10 in the
third quarter before Jenkins’ 12
yard touchdown run put the
Gamecocks up by three. The
touchdown capped an 11-play, 75
yard drive in which Jenkins went
5-for-5 passing for 42 yards.
The Gamecocks added a late
field goal by Dan Weaver, but
Vanderbilt had the ball with a
chance to win. Down 20-14, the
Commodores had possession with
1:41 remaining.
Jonathan Martin ended any
threat of a Vanderbilt comeback,
however, with an interception off
Jay Cutler.
“It’s the same story — another
close game that we didn’t win,”
Vanderbilt head coach Bobby
Johnson said. “I thought our guys
played hard and well most of the
game. I think some of (USC’s) good
athletes made some good plays
that allowed them to win the foot
ball game.”
Holtz wasn’t overly impressed
with his team’s play, especially the
team’s red zone.efficiency. But he
acknowledged the importance of
the victory.
“Any time you get a win in the
SEC, you have to be happy,” Holtz
said.
USC struggled offensively for
most of the first half and trailed 7
3 before Dondrial Pinkins com
pleted a 23-yard touchdown pass
to Troy Williamson right before
halftime.
The touchdown was William
son’s second in as many weeks.
The freshman from Aiken had
four grabs for 75 yards.
Senior Michael Ages also had a
GAME 5
use 20
(3-2,1-1 SEC)
m Vanderbilt 14
'"TJ® (1-4,0-3)
THE GAMECOCK’S
GAME BALL
QB Corey
Jenkins
Jenkins again led
the Gamecocks in
both rushing (97
yards) and
passing (180 yards). He played
under control and allowed USC to
establish the tempo of the game
with its ball-control offense.
THE QUOTE _J
“Any time you get a win
in the SEC, you have to
be happy.”
LOU HOLTZ
USC HEAD COACH
Only up 17-14 in the fourth
quarter, and facing third-and-16
from Vanderbilt territory, Jenkins
evaded defenders and found
Michael Ages for a 29-yard gain.
The drive led to a field goal that
gave USC a little more cushion.
The Jenkins-to-Ages completion
was the first time all season that
Carolina converted a third down
from more than 10 yards.
THE STAT
34*7
USC possessed the ball for
almost 10 more minutes than the
Commodores. The Gamecocks
wore down Vandy late in the
game with their rushing attack.
strong game receiving. He had a
team-high five catches for 71
yards.
“We moved the ball pretty
well,” Holtz said. “We just didn't
score when we had opportunities.”
Fullback Andrew Pinnock had a
successful return after not getting
a carry in last week’s Temple game.
He rushed for 69 yards on 17 carries.
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'Volleyball continues
to dominate at home
Carolina sweeps
Alabama teams
BY MATT ROTHENBERG
THE GAMECOCK
■ The confines of the Volleyball
Competition Facility proved un
friendly to Auburn and Alabama
this weekend, as the Gamecocks
swept both teams to keep its home
record perfect at 8-0.
USC head coach Kim
w, Christopher remarked on the im
portance of having the home
crowd on your side.
“The home crowd is awesome,”
she said after Sunday’s win over
Alabama. “It’s great to be com
fortable here. Most people have
other options (to do on a Sunday),
but it’s really nice to be in front
°f your home people.”
Friday night, Carolina finished
°fF the weak-hitting Tigers 30-12,
30-16 and 30-15. Auburn never had
„ a chance, getting continuously out
hit by the Gamecocks. T he Tigers
even had a negative hitting per
centage in the final game.
Niece Curry stepped up for
USC with a match-high 13 kills
and an overall hitting percentage
of .478.
Senior Berna Dwyer con
tributed nine kills, while team
mate Megan Hosp tallied six ser
vice aces.
Carolina hit .750 as it opened a
7-0 lead to begin the second game.
Then it went on a 13-3 run to ex
pand the margin.
“Our first contact in the second
game was really good,”
Christopher said. “We were pass
ing pretty well, and that allowed
Megan to run a faster offense. I
think the numbers indicated that.”
Errors doomed the Tigers (1-12,
0-1 SEC) — they had a total of 40
on the night.
The Gamecocks had a difficult
time sending the Crimson Tide
(10-6,1-1) home on Sunday, yet
USC prevailed in a tight match,
with game scores of 30-17,30-27
and 30-27.
Christopher thought it was a
little too close for comfort, though.
“I thought, offensively, we got a
little slower and got into a
slump,” she said. “We got into a
slower pattern than what we got
into in game one. I think that con
tributed to the score being a little
closer. (Alabama) hit .333 in game
two and, statistically, should have
won that game.”
But the Gamecocks managed
to win the match.
“We went into the locker room
and sat down and got our focus
back up,” said Curry, who had
another big game, with 12 kills
and a .421 hitting percentage.
Alabama “wanted to come back
and fight a little harder (in game
three), but we weren’t going to let
it happen.”
Christopher, after this week
end’s performance, likes what she
is seeing from Curry.
“She’s really coming on now,”
Christopher said. “She’s coming
into her own, and it’s good to see
her and Megan really connect
ing.”
Hosp, the senior setter, dished
out 36 assists against the Tide, in
PHOTO BY CANDI HAUGLUM/THE GAMECOCK
USC senior Sam Alban follows through on a spike against
Auburn on Friday. The Gamecocks won the match 3-0.
eluding the 4,000th of her career.
“I really don’t know what to
say about it,” Hosp said of her
achievement. “We’ve come a long
way. From all of us being fresh
men coming up and plaving to
gether as seniors — basically, it
means we’ve matured, and it
means a lot for the team.”
Carolina (10-3,3-0) will go on
the road for their next three
matches before returning Oct. 13
to play Tennessee.
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BRIEFLY
Carolina runner wins
second race in a row
For the second straight week,
USC cross country runner Jenny
Lake took the individual title
while setting a course record.
Lake’s time of 18 minutes, 55 sec
onds in the 5-kilometer race shat
tered the old course record by 15
seconds at The Citadel
Invitational in Charleston.
Carolina, as a team, continued
to improve; the Gamecocks’ 61
points was enough to gamer them
second place. Furman won the in
vitational with a score of 28.
Men’s soccer loses
first game of season
USC men’s soccer team, ranked
third in the nation by the NSCAA,
fell to Davidson 1-0 on Sunday.
Joel Sadler scored in the 59th
minute for the Wildcats, who im
prove to 5-2-1.
The defeat is the first of the sea
son for USC, which drops to 7-1-1.
♦ FOR MORE USC RESULTS,
INCLUDING THOSE FROM THE
MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TENNIS
TEAMS, VISIT OUR WEB SITE,
WWW.DAILYGAMECOCK.COM.