'Surreal experience': Gamecock women's soccer team takes in historic match and practice at Williams-Brice Stadium
All eyes were locked onto Columbia, South Carolina, for one of the biggest events in the city’s history on Saturday night.
After stops in Los Angeles and Philadelphia, Columbia’s Williams-Brice Stadium, normally home to South Carolina football, hosted a soccer match between Liverpool and Manchester United, two of the biggest professional soccer clubs in the world. With a sellout crowd of 77,559 fans, and many more watching on ESPN, it was certainly a night to remember.
“I thought it was an amazing event,” said South Carolina women’s soccer head coach Shelley Smith. “I know it took a ton of work and effort and time with our staff here at the University to make that happen. They’ve always done such a good job of getting things ready for when we need to play and be ready every season. I knew they were capable, it just was a big task to get done. But it came off beautifully.”
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Smith and her entire team were in attendance for the friendly, which ended with a 3-0 Liverpool win over its Premier League rival. While the game was exciting, the players were more enthralled by the spectacle that the night was.
“Having 77,000 people wanting to come out and watch a soccer game in Columbia, I think just proves what we’ve always known that Columbia is a soccer city and has the culture for that. So I think it was really special,” fifth-year forward Catherine Berry said.
Normally when the team has been at Williams-Brice Stadium, it’s usually for Gamecock football games. And typically, the players will wear matching shirts and not draw much attention from the fans in attendance. But that was an entirely different story on Saturday.
“Just the amount of people who were so excited to see us and recognize us, the amount of girls and then the soccer community in Columbia, the recognition that we got just walking to our seats, it was amazing to feel the support like that,” fifth-year defender Hallie Meadows said.
If anything, it showed that there’s an interest in the sport, one that is less talked about compared to others at South Carolina.
“We got to talk to so many young girls, tell them about our team, tell them about soccer,” Berry said. “Even just encouraging girls who were there with their parents who came up to us asking about if they should play sports — like what’s the benefit of that? — we kind of just got to give back in that way and share our experiences. I think that’s the stuff our program has always been about.”
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But that wasn’t all in store for the team. On Sunday, the day after the big game, they had the chance to host a practice at Williams-Brice Stadium. Even though the stadium was empty, it was still a great opportunity they may never have gotten otherwise.
“Being able to practice in the stadium, it was just pretty amazing,” senior midfielder Lily Render said. “Having ‘Gamecock Women’s Soccer’ on the big screen and we’re all like looking around. We’re like, ‘I can’t believe 78,000 people were here watching last night.’ But it was honestly a surreal experience just being out in the stadium.”
As South Carolina gets set to kick off its preseason slate on Monday, the past week they’ve had is something they’ll never forget. And the hope is that Columbia will get another chance in the future to host an event as big as this.
To see fans come from all over the country, come in here and hopefully had a good experience in Columbia, I think it was tremendous,” Smith said. “And it was special for us to be able to go to a game, see these players play at the highest level. They’re the best in the world and it was very fun to watch them play here at Stone Stadium as well. I mean, those opportunities are very unique.”
