Scoring woes continue to haunt USC

By matt leland · Daily Trojan

Posted October 9, 2011 at 6:36 pm in Soccer, Sports

A trip north to the Bay Area did not cure the USC women’s soccer team’s woes, as the team’s record continues to head south.

The Women of Troy dropped their seventh and eight consecutive games, falling 3-0 to No. 1 Stanford on Friday and 2-0 to California on Sunday. USC is now 3-12 on the year and still searching for its first Pac-12 victory.

Searching for answers · USC coach Ali Khosroshahin is trying to find a solution for the team’s scoring issues this season. The Women of Troy were shut out by No. 1 Stanford and California over the weekend. - Carlo Acenas | Daily Trojan

“We just haven’t played as well as we should be playing,” USC coach Ali Khosroshahin said. “We’re getting chances and not doing what we should be doing with them.”

The Golden Bears entered Sunday’s match on a four-game winless streak but looked impressive in USC’s second consecutive shutout loss.

“They took advantage of the shots they had, and we didn’t,” Khosroshahin said. “It’s really as simple as that.”

USC played Cal to a scoreless tie at halftime but was victimized by a pair of Golden Bear corner kicks in the second half. Cal forward Rachel Mercik broke the stalemate on a header in the 48th minute. Midfielder Taylor Comeau followed 10 minutes later with her first goal of the season from 25 yards out.

“We let them do what you can’t do, and that’s score of those corner kicks,” Khosroshahin said. “And then when you don’t respond with chances of your own it’s not going to turn out well.”

USC had its best chances in the 23rd minute, when back-to-back corner kicks resulted in shots on goal. Senior Brittany Kerridge’s boot to fellow senior Ashli Sandoval necessitated a save from sophomore goalkeeper Emily Kruger. Senior Claire Schloemer’s chance just seconds later sailed wide.

“[Brittany] Kerridge is playing very well, really giving us a chance on a lot of possessions,” Khosroshahin said. “It’s just too bad we aren’t playing like that all around.”

USC’s failure to score, a season-long issue, especially rankled Khosroshahin.

“This game is all about putting the ball in the back of the net,” Khosroshahin said. “You can talk about giving up goals, but that’s what it comes down to. We didn’t do that [against Cal].”

The undefeated Cardinal presented a rigorous test for USC, which had struggled scoring goals entering the weekend and failed to find the back of the net in both games.

Despite a career-high eight saves for sophomore goalkeeper Shelby Church and close shots from sophomore Elizabeth Eddy and senior Ashley Freyer, Stanford jumped out to a two-goal first-half lead and never looked back.

“They’re probably the best team we’ve played all year,” Khosroshahin said. “They played us as tough as we’ve ever been played.”

USC hung with the Cardinal until the 32nd minute, when forward Sydney Payne scored on a deflected header to give Stanford the lead. Minutes later, defender Rachel Quon booted the ball off the underside of the top post and in to extend the lead to 2-0.

Stanford added a third goal with just 30 seconds remaining to close out the scoring. The Cardinal’s shutout of the Women of Troy was just the latest in a streak of dominating efforts from Stanford’s defense. The victory over USC gave the Cardinal a streak of seven straight shutouts, a run that came to an end Sunday in a 4-1 win over UCLA.

“We knew they’d be great going in,” Khosroshahin said. “No surprise there.”

The Women of Troy will finish up their three-game road trip Friday against Washington before returning to McAlister Field for their last home stand of the season.

3 Comments on “Scoring woes continue to haunt USC”

  1. Alum

    Completely agree with Steve B. Definitely time for a change at the top.

  2. Steve B.

    The Coach is showing his true ability to recruit now after somehow winning a national title with the previous coach’s players. His demeanor worked right at the start presently is getting tiresome to the young ladies. He had a chance to build a solid program with the initial success and has gone the other way, time for a change at the top.

  3. BJ

    Wow. Talk about getting into a downward spiral. Why doesn’t he move Autumn back to playing forward so that there are more goal scoring opportunities?? His job better be on the line. What a disastrous season.

More News

  Daily Trojan Spring Awakening Supplement

Blogs

Daily Trojan Poll

Which headliner did you enjoy most at Springfest?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

Archives

October 2011
S M T W T F S
« Sep   Nov »
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031  

Browse Archives

News

Dr. Dre, Iovine give $70 mil for new academy

A new type of undergraduate experience will be added to the university as music icons Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre are together giving $70 million ...

UPDATE: LAPD, DPS hold open forum for students

Video from the scene, courtesy of USC Black Student Assembly.   Students, alumni, faculty and community members voiced their concerns at an emotional open forum between the ...

Students hold sit-in in response to LAPD presence at party

[gallery link="file" ids="67092,67091,67090,67089,67088,67087,67086,67085,67084"] Photos by Razan Al Marzouqi   More than 100 students gathered in front of Tommy Trojan for a sit-in Monday afternoon in response to events ...

Opinion

Syrian conflict explodes

On May 16, President Barack Obama told the public about evidence that shows chemical weapons being used in the ongoing Syrian crisis, according to BBC ...

Extra-curriculars, internships as important as grades

As summertime rolls around and the sun and ocean begin to beckon eager pupils, one last roadblock stands in the way of true vacation bliss: ...

’SC sets example in lowering dropout rate

A report sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation reveals that the nation’s higher education system is facing a dropout crisis. Produced in part ...

Sports

Women of Troy fall in the round of 16

With a 15-match winning streak against the Cardinal and after bouncing the team from the NCAA quarterfinals last season, the No. 5 USC women’s tennis ...

Trojans can’t pull off unprecedented ‘5-peat’

An outstanding four-year championship run ended for the USC men’s tennis program on Saturday, May 18, in Urbana, Ill., as the No. 4 Trojans were ...

USC suffers sweep to rival UCLA

When USC and UCLA took the field this weekend for their annual three-game clash, it was hard to envision two more different teams and programs. ...

Lifestyle

Daft Punk transcends genre in RAM

After eight long years, the eccentric French electronic music duo Daft Punk is re-entering the electronic music fray. Their new album, Random Access Memories, was ...

Midnight builds on strengths of preceding films

Movie trilogies have a bit of a reputation for being films that rely heavily on action and excitement. They’re usually big money earners, which is ...

An Exercise in Authenticity

Though Generation Um
includes a star studded cast—Keanu Reeves, Bojana Novakovic, and Adelaide Clemens—this film surprisingly has more of an indie vibe.  Set in New York ...

Photos

In Photos: Washington comes to USC

In Photos: Washington comes to USC

The Schwarzenegger Institute held an immigration reform forum titled "Washington comes to USC", with U.S Senators John McCain, Michael Bennet and former President of Mexico ...

In Photos: Armenian Genocide

Photos by Ani Kolangian [gallery link="file" ids="66554,66555,66556,66557,66558,66559,66560,66561,66562"]

In Photos: Springfest 2013

Photos by Priyanka Patel. [gallery link="file" ids="65587,65586,65585,65584,65583,65582,65581,65580,65579,65578,65577,65576"]