South Carolina women's soccer advances to SEC Tournament semifinals with win over Alabama

The South Carolina women’s soccer team headed into this year’s SEC Tournament looking for redemption.

Last season, the Gamecocks’ early postseason hopes were dashed by a first-round conference tournament exit.

History would not repeat itself on Tuesday night, though. South Carolina picked up a 4-1 win over No. 12 seed Alabama in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals, putting the Gamecocks two wins away from a second conference championship in three years.

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Both teams engaged in back-and-forth play to begin the match, with neither squad generating sustained attacks into the opposing half of the field.

It was not until the 11th minute of the game that either team registered a shot. Katie Shea Collins ran in behind a defender and found herself one-on-one with Alabama goalkeeper Coralie Lallier. Lallier parried the ball behind the end line, resulting in a corner kick for South Carolina.

That breakaway attack would yield the first goal of the match one play later. Cuyler Zulauf‘s ensuing corner kick found the head of Amanda Patrick in the six-yard box. Patrick’s header, which resulted in her first goal of the 2024 season, gave the Gamecocks a 1-0 lead.

Her goal spurred South Carolina to continue attacking the Crimson tide goal, resulting in more shots. Over the next 10 minutes, the Gamecocks logged four shots, including two on goal.

Alabama would eventually register its first shot of the match in the 30th minute. But South Carolina would be given an opportunity to double its lead shortly afterward.

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Collins found herself in Alabama’s penalty area and was taken down by a Crimson Tide defender. After the referee initially awarded a penalty kick, he consulted the video review monitor and stuck with the call on the field. Catherine Barry stepped up to take the penalty kick and dispatched it into left side of the net to increase South Carolina’s advantage to 2-0.

Alabama saw a flurry of offense late in the first half, with two shot attempts in the closing five minutes. The Gamecocks’ defense held firm as it had all game, however, helping the team maintain a two-goal lead at the halftime break.

The Crimson Tide’s offensive momentum carried into the early stages of the second half, too. Alabama generated three shots within the opening five minutes of the period. One of those shots even forced a diving save out of South Carolina goalkeeper Christina Tsaousis.

A second video review of the match would soon follow another Crimson Tide shot saved by Tsaousis. The ball appeared to strike a Gamecock defender near her arm, prompting shouts for a penalty from Alabama. But the referee confirmed that a handball offense had not been committed, denying a scoring opportunity for the Crimson Tide.

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Both teams would exchange close scoring opportunities as the second half progressed, but South Carolina scored two goals within the final 16 minutes that all but sealed the victory. The Gamecocks’ lead grew to 3-0 after Autumn Cayelli curled in a shot from outside the 18-yard box, and Barry built even further on the lead with her second penalty kick goal of the night in the 84th minute.

Midfielder Nadia Ramadan got Alabama on the scoreboard one minute later with a goal from the penalty spot. But the score was merely a consolation, as South Carolina will keep on dancing in the SEC Tournament.

What’s next?

With the victory, South Carolina will advance to the SEC Tournament semifinals, where it will face No. 1 seed Mississippi State. The Bulldogs earned a 2-1 double-overtime victory over No. 9 seed Tennessee Tuesday night.

Mississippi State is currently the No. 2 women’s soccer team nationwide with a 16-1-0 (wins-losses-draws) regular season record and a perfect 10-0-0 mark in SEC play. Both the Gamecocks and Bulldogs faced off in their regular season finales on Oct. 30. The match finished 2-1 in favor of Mississippi State.

Kickoff for the two teams’ semifinal matchup is set for 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. The match will be broadcast on the SEC Network.

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