SEC Soccer Week 6 Preview: Georgia travels to a pair of ranked SEC foes

SEC Games of the Week

Georgia entered the NSCAA rankings for the first time in 2014 this week at No. 22, and this weekend they face a pair of ranked SEC foes on the road. Georgia travels to No. 7 Florida on Friday night before facing No. 14 South Carolina on Sunday. The Bulldogs enter the weekend riding a five-game winning streak, including a 1-0 win over (now) No. 23 UCF and a 3-1 win over Vanderbilt. The Vanderbilt game was a come-from-behind victory, as Georgia conceded in the first half before scoring three in the second half. Sophomore Marion Crowder has four goals in the last two games and was named College Sports Madness' SEC Player of the Week after her two-goal effort against Vanderbilt.

Friday's game will be Florida's first home game in September after a six-game road trip that ended with a 2-1 victory over Alabama. Senior Lauren Silver scored the game winning goal directly from a corner kick before Alabama cut Florida's lead to the final margin. Florida's defense has only conceded five goals so far in 2014 to give the Gators the second-best defense in the SEC. Sophomore Savannah Jordan leads the Gators with five goals on the season. Last year, Florida beat Georgia 5-1 in Athens in both teams' season finale.

South Carolina opened SEC play with a road win over Auburn, 2-1. Sophie Groff converted an 86th-minute penalty for her team-high fourth goal of the season before the Tigers responded with an 89th-minute equalizer. Stevi Parker scored in the 10th minute of overtime to open SEC play with a win for the first time since 2012. Auburn's goal was only the second goal conceded by South Carolina, and the first since Carolina's 1-0 loss to Clemson on Sept. 5. The Gamecocks defense is third in the NCAA in goals-against average through Sept. 22. Georgia beat South Carolina last season, 2-0, in Athens in the SEC opener for both teams.

Both games will be aired on the SEC Network+.

The Undercard

• The SEC's other ranked team, Texas A&M (No. 10), travels to LSU and Ole Miss. With 23 goals, the Aggies have the SEC's second-best offense while LSU has yielded an SEC-worst 14 goals.
• Missouri travels to South Carolina and Florida. The Tigers' game at Florida will be on ESPNU on Sunday.
• Arkansas, the only SEC team in the others receiving votes category in the week's NSCAA poll, travels to Ole Miss on Thursday before traveling to LSU on Sunday. Both games will be on the SEC Network.
• Auburn will look for its first SEC win while traveling to Vanderbilt and Kentucky.

Talking Points

• Texas A&M won its lone game of the weekend with a 3-0 win over Tennessee. Shea Groom scored a hat trick to take the SEC lead in scoring over teammate Kelley Monogue. Groom was named SEC Offensive Player of the Week, while teammate Karlie Mueller was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week.
• Ole Miss scored a first-minute goal and held on for a 1-0 over Mississippi State to retain the Magnolia Cup. The win was the Rebels' first in Starkville since 2008. The Rebels then lost their final out-of-conference game, 4-0 to UCF. UCF had previously lost to Texas A&M and Georgia.
• Missouri beat LSU, 3-1. The Tigers from Columbia won their fourth straight game and ran their unbeaten streak to seven games. Kaitlyn Clark was named SEC Freshman of the Week after scoring the game winner and adding an assist.
• Tennessee closed non-conference play with a 3-0 victory over East Tennessee State. Entering the game against Tennessee, ETSU was the highest scoring team in the country, but was held scoreless by the Vols.
• Alabama took the lead as the highest scoring team in the SEC on the back of an 8-0 win over Alabama State. Annalike Steyn scored a first half hat trick during a six goal first half for the Crimson Tide.
• South Carolina leads the NCAA in attendance with an average of 3,761, including a season high of 5,855 against Clemson. Mississippi State set their second record attendance of the season with 1,235 against Ole Miss.

Standings

Results and Schedule