Upstate talent fuels USC women's soccer to elite level
Key members of the University of South Carolina women’s soccer team say team chemistry has helped fuel what is becoming an historic season.
“Our team just keeps getting closer and closer, even in tough times,” said junior Savannah McCaskill, USC’s leading scorer with 13 goals.
Tough times have been hard to find, however. The Gamecocks (16-0-1) are ranked as high as No. 2 in national polls and hope to close out an undefeated regular season with a home match at 7 p.m. Thursday against Ole Miss. A 2-0 victory at the University of Tennessee on Sunday clinched the team’s first Southeastern Conference championship since 2011. The Gamecocks’ 16 straight wins (they tied the University of Oklahoma in the season opener) and 17 games in a row without a loss are school records.
“We do a lot of little things together on and off the field,” said Kaleigh Kurtz, a senior defender from Greer.
The bonding goes back even farther, to the soccer fields of suburban Greenville. Kurtz and senior midfielder Chelsea Drennan of Anderson began playing together at Carolina Elite Soccer Academy at age 9.
“We both understand each other,” Drennan said.
Kurtz said she and Drennan are responsible for taking many of the Gamecocks’ free kicks, where their years of playing club ball together are an advantage.
“We always know where the other’s going to be,” Kurtz said. “Throughout club, we felt a relationship. She’s someone I can always count on.”
When Chapin native McCaskill was in high school, she began making a 90-minute commute to CESA two to three times each week in order to face better competition.
“That’s the strongest club in our state,” said USC coach Shelley Smith.
A year behind Drennan and Kurtz, McCaskill played on a different squad but practiced against the two. Two more CESA alums, freshman defenders Kailey Mattison and Libby Stahlman, both J.L. Mann grads, play for the Gamecocks. Andrew Hyslop, CESA co-executive director, described Drennan and Kurtz as fine athletes who honed their soccer skills through hard work. He said McCaskill benefited from playing for CESA’s entry in the Elite Clubs National League, which features top squads from around the country.
“Training with players of similar ability and playing teams that are equal or better is a key component,” Hyslop said. “All three of those girls, when they got to be 16 or 17, you could see what kind of player they’d be in college.”
While Drennan and McCaskill went straight to USC, Kurtz played a year at the University of Richmond before transferring.
“I just didn’t really fit in well at Richmond,” Kurtz said. “I was looking for something a little bit more intense.”
Intensity, aggression and grit are words teammates and coaches use to describe Kurtz, who was a three-time All-State selection at Riverside High School.
“Kaleigh is probably one of the most competitive, hard-nosed players we’ve had here,” Smith said.
With Kurtz helping to anchor the defense from the center-back position, the Gamecocks have produced 10 shutouts and given up only three goals in conference play.
“I think I’m just one of those players, even if there’s a minute left, I’m still yelling,” Kurtz said.
With an expected NCAA tournament bid looming, the Gamecocks hope to repeat their deep run of 2014 as opposed to their first-round exit last year.
“We’ve made it to the Elite Eight before,” Kurtz said. “That’s been the goal ever since.”
Kurtz and Drennan, who is team captain and the school’s all-time leader with 37 assists, will be among nine USC seniors to be honored prior to Thursday’s match.
“They’ve poured their hearts and souls into this team,” Smith said of the group, which could enjoy up to four home encores in the NCAAs if they earn a top seed and continue to win.
In between Senior Night and the NCAAs is the SEC Tournament. The first game for the top-seeded Gamecocks will be 5 p.m. on Nov. 2, in Orange Beach, Alabama.
