March 28, 2017

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina women’s soccer coach Shelley Smith announced the addition of defender Grace Fisk Tuesday afternoon. The rising sophomore joins the Gamecocks after playing one season at Penn State this past fall.

“We are thrilled to welcome Grace to our program,” Smith said. “She is a quality person and player who will bring a wealth of experience having a year of high-level college experience at Penn State to go along with the time spent competing for her country at the national level.”

The Bromley, London, native made an immediate impact in her lone season with the Nittany Lions, starting 18 of their 21 matches in 2016. She helped Penn State post nine shutouts on the year and netted her first collegiate goal in a 2-0 victory over La Salle on Sept. 11. Fisk played in both of the Nittany Lions’ NCAA Tournament matches this fall, earning the start in the two contests.

Prior to Penn State, Fisk competed for Millwall Lionesses FC at the club level in England. She has played in over 30 matches for the England women’s national team after seeing time with the U-15, U-17, U-18 and U-19 squads. The defender captained her country’s U-15, U-17 and U-19 teams, and she was tabbed the Millwall Lionesses’ Young Player of the Year in 2015. Fisk began her club career on the U-12 team before becoming the youngest player to compete for the Millwall Lionesses senior team when she made her debut at age 16.

Fisk joins a Carolina team that boasted the lowest goals against average (0.41) in program history this past season. The Gamecocks conceded just 10 goals on the year, and their 14 clean sheets topped the SEC. Carolina has totaled double-digit shutouts in three of the last four seasons.

“After losing two central defenders to graduation, we are looking at players to fill these key positions,” Smith said. “Grace adds experience and a high-level of skill to the group competing for these spots.”