AUBURN, Ala. – With a rocket from outside of the box in the 100^th minute, junior Stevi Parker lifted No. 14 South Carolina (8-1-0, 1-0-0 SEC) to a 2-1 overtime win in its SEC opener at Auburn (6-3-0, 0-1-0 SEC) on Sunday afternoon.

After 85 minutes of scoreless play, the action ramped up. Freshman Savannah McCaskill drew a foul in the box after Parker played a long ball to her on the run and sophomore Sophie Groff converted the ensuing penalty kick for a 1-0 South Carolina lead in the 86^th minute.

With the Gamecocks looking to lock up a 1-0 win, Auburn’s Brooke Ramsier found the equalizer in the 89^th minute after Kristen Dodson and Alex Massey teamed up to find Ramsier in front of the goal. Ramsier sent a ball low and hard past Gamecock keeper Sabrina D’Angelo to knot the game at 1-1 and send it to overtime.

From the beginning of the extra period, South Carolina was on the attack, looking to swing the momentum back in its favor. The aggressive Gamecocks barely allowed the ball into Auburn’s half of the field and earned four corner kicks in the extra period. The first nearly gave South Carolina the win when sophomore Chelsea Drennan and senior Taylor Leach connected. Leach sent a header towards goal that hit the line, but Auburn keeper Alyse Scott kept it from rolling across.

On the fourth corner kick of the 10-minute period, Auburn tried to clear Drennan’s serve, but it bounced to Parker who promptly ended the match with a rocket from outside of the 18-yard box.

In the early stages of the match, the Gamecocks pressured and recorded the first shot of the day, a long-range ball from redshirt freshman Lindsey Lane. Two minutes later, the Tigers’ Casey Ramsier had a one-on-one opportunity in the box and drilled a shot right at Gamecock keeper Sabrina D’Angelo who made the save.

In the 20^th minute, Drennan sent a cross into the box with McCaskill waiting on the other end just in front of the goalmouth. The freshman went diving and set a header towards the net, but the ball bounced down and then over the crossbar.

A foul on the Gamecocks just outside of the box granted a dangerous opportunity for Auburn, but Brooke Ramsier sent the direct kick over the crossbar.

In the 43^rd minute, sophomore Daija Griffin looked to give South Carolina a goal just before the half. Junior Coryn Bajema one-touched a ball over to a streaking Griffin, but the shot went to Auburn keeper Alyse Scott, and the teams went to the break scoreless.

The Gamecocks dialed up the attack in the final 20 minutes of regulation and earned back-to-back corner kicks in the 73^rd minute, but could not score. The match remained scoreless until Groff converted the penalty kick that opened the scoring. 

Game Changer

Stevi Parker ended the match with a strike from distance in the 100^th minute on a rebound from a Gamecock corner kick.

Key Stat

After neither team was able to score in the first 86 minutes of the match, South Carolina and Auburn combined to score three goals in the final 14 minutes of play.

Notables

• Stevi Parker has netted the game-winning goal against Auburn for two-straight seasons. Today’s tally was her first of the season.

• Today’s win gives the Gamecocks a win to start SEC play for the first time since 2012.  

• Sophie Groff netted her fourth goal of the season on a penalty kick in the 86^th minute. The total leads the team.

• The PK is the first for the Gamecocks since Danielle Au converted South Carolina’s only penalty of the 2013 season in a 2-1 win over Kentucky on Oct. 31.

• The Auburn goal in the 89^th minute is just the second goal given up by South Carolina this season.

• Today was the second overtime match of the 2014 season. The Gamecocks defeated Boston University at The Graveyard on Fri., Aug. 28, thanks to a 104^th minute goal from Raina Johnson.

• While every home contest has been broadcast on the SEC Network+, today’s match was South Carolina’s first non-football SEC Network television broadcast. Catch all of the Gamecocks’ league contests, home and away, on the SEC Network+.

Quotable

South Carolina Head Coach Shelley Smith

I’m very proud of their effort. They didn’t give up. Obviously, Auburn had the momentum going into overtime after scoring the late goal right after we had scored. For us to come back and push play into their half and get good chances in the first overtime, it was tremendous. I’m proud of the way we responded after going down and being disappointed that we couldn’t hold onto that lead late in the game.

Up Next

The Gamecocks host Missouri and Georgia at Stone Stadium to open the home SEC slate. South Carolina takes on the Tigers at 6 p.m. on Fri., Sept. 26, in the first half of a doubleheader that South Carolina men’s soccer completes with its home conference opener against Marshall. On Sun., Sept. 28, the Gamecocks face Georgia at 1 p.m. Both games are available on the SEC Network+.