Seniors will be honored for last time

When the final whistle blows Sunday afternoon at McAlister Field, five USC women’s soccer players will jog across the field, applaud the fans and sign autographs one last time.

No. 9 USC (11-4, 3-1 Pac-10) hosts Oregon State on Friday at 3 p.m. and Oregon on Sunday at 1 p.m. in what is the last homestand for the Women of Troy this season.

“It hasn’t really [sunk in yet]. The season’s gone by quicker than I could even imagine,” redshirt senior Meagan Holmes said.

Holmes is more accurate in her statement than she might think. This is the earliest last home game for the Women of Troy in more than 12 years.

“It’s crazy that the end is almost here. We only have three weeks of guaranteed play left,” redshirt senior Marihelen Tomer said. “It’s crazy how the last five years, never mind four years, goes by.”

But the season isn’t over yet. After suffering a humbling 4-0 defeat to No. 1 Stanford last week that snapped the Women of Troy’s nine-game winning streak, USC bounced back to defeat Cal in overtime 3-2.

The victory at Cal helped USC get back on track, especially since the Women of Troy had a two-goal lead in the second half. But the combined six goals that USC allowed in the second halves of both games last weekend concerned coach Ali Khosroshahin, and the Women of Troy know they have to improve in this area if they want to sweep their last homestand.

“We need to be more consistent and trust each other. We really haven’t put together a solid two halves,” Tomer said. “I think we’ve put in some strong halves here and there, but putting together the full 90 and working hard and together is what we’re going to try to come out and do this weekend.”

The Women of Troy also learned in the games last weekend that the team breaks down when verbal signals can’t be heard. While the football team has speakers to emulate crowd noise, the soccer team doesn’t have that luxury. So, the Women of Troy had silent scrimmages this weekend, where the only communication came from non-verbal signals.

“We’ve noticed when we do give up goals it’s when we’re unable to hear each other,” Holmes said. “So we’ve been working on finding each other’s eyes and communicating without verbal language.”

Holmes has had to work harder this year than most because of the youth of the team. Six starters are sophomores or freshman, including two on the backline. But three of the starters are graduating seniors who will be playing their last game on McAlister Field.

Senior goalkeeper Kristen Olsen broke the USC all-time shutouts record two weeks ago by notching her 26th shutout of her career. She’s started all but one game for the Women of Troy this year and became just the third player in conference history to notch back-to-back Pac-10 Player of the Week Honors.

Tomer has started every game in the midfield for USC and is fourth on the team in points. And lastly, the former All-American Holmes missed the first part of the season with a knee injury, but she returned a few weeks ago to anchor a young backline that was in need of some veteran leadership.

“She has so much experience, so much composure. She’s had a real calming effect on the team,” Khosroshahin said. “She does her job whether she’s hurt, healthy, sick. You know what she’s going to do, and you can say that for the entire group.”

The other two seniors that will be honored on Senior Day will be midfielder Jamie Petrossi and backup goalkeeper Brittany Massro. Those two, combined with the three starters, have made a lasting impression of the entire team.

“They’ve set an unbelievable precedent for behavior in and out of the classroom and on the training grounds,” Khosroshahin said. “They’ve done an enormous job ensuring discipline is the cornerstone of everything we do and they’ve made some very difficult decisions over the past year to make certain the program’s going to be moving in the right direction after they’re gone.

“It’s up to the rest of us to make certain we send them off on a high note this weekend,” Khosroshahin said.