In a tight contest, sixth-seeded Georgia fell in a 4-1 penalty shootout to second-seeded and No. 13 South Carolina, ending its SEC tournament run.
Each team showed tenacity on the defensive side including relentlessness from its goalkeepers and kept it close throughout. However, South Carolina ultimately got the better of Georgia when it mattered most.
“I’m really proud of our team and the grit we showed, the tenacity we showed,” head coach Keidane McAlpine said. “Our goalkeeper made some great saves, and we had some great moments offensively. Both teams gritted it out and I’m really proud of this performance. It was a big step. We haven’t won here in a while, and to get a win and be in this Thursday game was big for us.”
While freshman goalkeeper Jordan Brown could not produce a second shutout in the tournament or during the penalty shootout, Brown made some incredible saves.
Brown had six total saves, highlighting how aggressively South Carolina attacked the net. Brown managed to save several shots almost miraculously.
However, a Brown mistake allowed the Gamecocks to be the first on the board.
In the 53rd minute, Brown moved out of the box to stop South Carolina forward Catherine Berry. Berry took advantage of this, passed Brown and placed a shot past her and the Georgia defenders for South Carolina’s first and only goal during regulation.
In the 75th minute, Georgia answered back after a handball from the Gamecocks senior defender Abby Hugo. Graduate senior forward Dani Murguia took the penalty kick and tied the score 1-1.
South Carolina goalkeeper Heather Hinz had an impressive day as well, with several impressive saves. The most impressive was in the 85th minute.
Georgia midfielder Ellie Gilbert took a shot for a possible game winner. Hinz made an athletic leaping save, forcing the game into overtime and adding onto his four saves of the day.
Hinz would carry her performance over to penalties. After both overtime periods, both teams took shots at the other’s goalkeeper. While Brown allowed every shot to go through, Hinz shut down all Georgia shot takers, aside from graduate midfielder Abby Boyan.
While South Carolina now advances to face first-seeded Alabama in the championship, Georgia’s SEC tournament is over. This ends players like Murguia, Boyan and other seniors’ SEC careers.
Although the Bulldogs are out of the SEC, they are now waiting to see if they made the NCAA tournament, something McAlpine had been striving for all season.
“Well, for the seniors who haven’t been to the NCAA, the perfect season is to get them there,” McAlpine said. “That’s the ground floor goal for us. They’ve worked too hard and given too much in this program for us not to have that be the first go on the list. And if we do that, and we’ve had a successful season, along the way, we can kind of grow a little bit and get our feet on the ground and have some experiences together and let them understand who we are as a staff and kind of build some foundational things great.”
Georgia last came in at 28 in the NCAA RPI rankings. With a win against No. 23 Tennessee, a semifinal appearance and playing no. 16 South Carolina so closely, the odds appear high for it to make the tournament.
Until then, the Bulldogs can only rest, recover and wait with bated breath until the bracket is released.
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