Barry’s Second-Half Goal Propels Women’s Soccer to Win Over UK

Nancy Hubright | @NHubright

Credit: Gamecock Athletics

The South Carolina women’s soccer team once again started sluggish during the first half of their match against the Kentucky Wildcats. However, after returning from halftime, the Gamecocks rallied around freshman Catherine Barry after she snuck in a goal to give the team their second straight win.

The match’s only goal came in the 52nd minute from Barry off an assist from Gamecock defender Anna Patten. This goal was earned after a rough start by the Gamecocks and a following motivational half-time talk from Coaches Shelley and Jamie Smith.

One thing Barry took away from that half-time talk was to “leave no regrets.” The talk did the job as the Gamecocks came out with a renewed enthusiasm leading to Barry’s decisive goal.

While the Wildcats kept the game close, they only threatened the Gamecocks with a penalty kick in the box, which sailed over goalkeeper Heather Hinz. Hinz suspects that after she looked to right of the goal that it threw off the Wildcat’s player.

“I tried to get into the striker’s head,” Hinz said.

Additionally, the Wildcats would only challenge Hinz seven times due to efforts of Sutton Jones, who smoothly filled in the gap created by the absence of Hallie Meadows. Despite this game being Hinz’s first start of the season, she held strong against Kentucky with a clean sheet and will look to keep that momentum next week.

While Barry had the lone goal of the match, Lauren Chang and Riley Tanner would also contribute to South Carolina’s 19 shots during the game. Chang’s shot would miss the mark, and Tanner’s would bounce of the goal post.

Energized by the coaches, the Gamecocks would also attack with more intensity in the second half, which resulted in a more physical game with 11 fouls from the Gamecocks and eight from the Wildcats.

Combining another strong showing from Barry and the efforts of the Hinz with the newly configured the defense, the Gamecocks look to build on their two-game winning streak next weekend when they take on the Vanderbilt Commodores on Oct. 11 at 2 p.m. on the road.