October 21, 2001

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina women’s soccer team (6-6-3, 1-5-1) was defeated by Tennessee 3-1, Sunday afternoon. South Carolina held a 1-0 lead at halftime, before Tennessee scored three unanswered goals in the second half to win the match. Junior goalkeeper Elise Matthews finished the match with nine saves for the Gamecocks.

“We had a very good first half, battled hard and were winning a lot of balls and 50-50 situations,” said USC Head Coach Shelley Smith. “The second half Tennessee came out strong and stepped it up. The second goal they scored really hurt us. We let them have that one and took the momentum.”

The Gamecocks came out firing away in the first half, scoring the first goal of the match. Sophomore midfielder Melissa Hutson scored her second goal of the season at 20:06 from just outside the penalty box to give USC a 1-0 lead.

Down 1-0, Tennessee came back to tie the match at 51:17 as Kayla Lockaby scored off a deflection. Just over a minute later, Sue Flamini scored off a direct kick to put the Volunteers up 2-1. Tennessee finished the scoring of the match at 79:03 as Keeley Dowling scored off a penalty kick.

The Gamecocks return home to Stone Stadium for the first time since the first week of October. South Carolina hosts SEC West rivals Ole Miss at 7 p.m. on Fri. Oct. 26 and Mississippi State on Sun. Oct. 28 at 1 p.m.

“We are still in position to get into the SEC Tournament with wins in these next two matches,” said Coach Smith. “Our team has worked hard the entire season and our players are fighting hard to get some wins. We have been right there, in all our SEC matches and have shown we are an improved team this season.”

Source: USCSPORTS.COM