COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina women’s soccer team will seek its first win of the season as they host East Carolina in Thursday’s home opener at Stone Stadium.

The Gamecocks (0-0-1) and Pirates (2-0-0) kickoff at 5 p.m., giving Carolina fans an ideal

place to tailgate and cheer on Coach Shelley Smith’s team before heading to Williams-Brice Stadium for the football season opener scheduled for 8 p.m. The first 200 fans to the match will receive a free South Carolina Soccer keychain.

South Carolina enters the match with a 9-3-2 all-time record in home openers after winning their last four by a combined score of 15-3. Facing an East Carolina team that won both of its opening weekend matches, the Gamecocks hope to add to their success at Stone Stadium after battling UNC Wilmington to a 0-0 tie last Saturday.

“We’re excited to be at home,” Smith said. “We’re glad to have one game under our belt. We’ve taken some things from Saturday’s match that we can improve on. There are a lot of things that we did well that we want to make sure the players understand that they did play well but we need a different outcome. The players are responding well to everything that we present them, and I believe we’ll have an improved team already come Thursday.”

Fifteen players will suit up for the Garnet and Black in their first game at Stone Stadium Thursday, but the Gamecocks also return a lot of experience from its group of sophomores and juniors that has been nearly unstoppable at Stone Stadium the past two seasons.

Carolina has posted a 15-1-3 record at home since the start of the 2006 season, the lone blemish coming in a double-overtime match last season.

“I expect not our best crowd on Thursday, but our players are focused on what they do on the field,” Smith said. “The most important fans to them are their parents, and they’ll be there along with friends. Because it’s the start of the season, they’ll be motivated to play and perform. They’re excited to be back home after a year for the returning players and the waiting to finally play at Stone Stadium for the newcomers. They all have their own self motivation there.”

Note: Due to construction on The Dodie Academic Enrichment Center, a large section of Heyward Street will be closed to traffic beginning immediately. Fans planning to attend upcoming men’s and women’s soccer events at Stone Stadium should be aware of this closure and seek an alternate route to parking lots surrounding the stadium.

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