Sept. 5, 2010

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COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The Arizona State women's soccer team closed out its weekend trip to the Carolinas with a 1-1 tie at 19th-ranked South Carolina on Sunday. With the tie the Sun Devils remained unbeaten at 3-0-1 while South Carolina is now 3-1-1.

After a hard-fought 1-0 win over Charlotte on Friday night, the Sun Devils entered Sunday's contest ready for another tough battle against a Gamecock squad that had the luxury of entering the game on one week's rest. Despite not being as well rested as their opponents, the Sun Devils still managed several spurts of brilliance on both ends of the field.

"For the most part I'm happy with our weekend," ASU head coach Kevin Boyd said following the game. "We come out against two very good opponents and we beat one and tied the other... [Against South Carolina] we had moments when we were very good. We had a hard time cracking their backline. Their goalkeeper came up and made some fantastic saves. She really had a good game and I was impressed with her. She kept them in the game because we should have stuck two away that she saved."

For the first time this season the Sun Devils found themselves playing from behind after giving up a goal in the 20th minute. However they would tie the game before the half when sophomore midfielder Taylor McCarter fired a shot from approximately 20 yards to tie the game.

"It was a spectacular goal," Boyd said. "So far [Taylor] has been our best player. Karin [Volpe] has gotten three goals in four games and she is the one everyone is going to notice, but Taylor has been spectacular. She got the ball on a corner kick that bounced out to her at the top of the 18 and she hit a one-time, left-footed volley and just stuck it in the goal."

The Sun Devils had a few chances to take the lead early in the second half, however were stymied by Gamecocks goalkeeper Mollie Patton, who made five of her seven saves during the second 45 minutes.

Volpe and freshman forward Devil Marshall tied for the team lead with three shots. Senior forward Brooke Jacobs led the Gamecocks with four shots.

The Sun Devils return to action next weekend when they host the Sun Devil Desert Classic. On Friday, ASU will face Tennessee at 7 p.m. The ASU-Tennessee game on Friday will be preceded by Arizona taking on Nebraska at 4:30 p.m. Then on Sunday, ASU will face Nebraska at 1:30 p.m. with Arizona and Tennessee playing at 11 a.m.