CHARLESTON, S.C. – The College of Charleston women's soccer team opened the first of three-straight road games with a 2-0 loss to South Carolina in Columbia.
The Gamecock's, ranked No. 5 in the preseason U.S. Soccer coaches poll, came out attacking early with five shots in the opening fifteen minutes of play. Senior forward
Laura Ortega finally had a sight of goal for Charleston in the 31nd minute but blazed her effort over the bar.
The defensive partnership of
Rachel Kim and
Meredith Tunney continued to hold South Carolina at bay until the 58
th minute when the Gamecocks opened the scoring through Selma Magnusdottir.
South Carolina continued to press the Cougars backline and seven minutes later they doubled their lead through Lauren Chang.
The College (1-1-0) showed signs of life with back to back corner kicks with twenty minutes left, but the Gamecock (2-0-0) defense held firm and saw the rest of the game out to take the victory.
Postgame Quotes - Head Coach Christian Michner
On the game…
"I thought we played really well for large stretches of the game tonight. The first half, especially, we possessed the ball well and were solid defensively," Michner, said. "It was an even game coming into the second half and that's when USC hit a different gear and we lost a step. It's not easy playing on the road at the no. 5 team in the nation, but I couldn't be prouder of how the Cougars fought tonight."
Next Up
Charleston continue the road schedule with games at Coastal Carolina on Aug. 23 and at Wake Forest on Aug. 26, before returning home for the Charleston Classic on Aug. 31 against Ball State.
