USC looks to bounce back against ASU
After fighting valiantly this weekend but coming away empty-handed against two of the top teams in the country, the USC women’s soccer team now looks to rebound this Friday against a tough competitor in Arizona State. The Women of Troy (8-4-2, 2-3-0 Pac-12) feel that this week’s matchup with the Sun Devils (8-2-4, 1-1-3) is a good opportunity to turn things around.
Tough job · Senior goalkeeper Caroline Stanley will have to stop a strong ASU offensive attack, led by Aly Moon and Cali Farquharson. – Ralf Cheung | Daily Trojan
“After the two losses this past weekend, we definitely want to come out and reestablish ourselves, especially considering that we only have one game this weekend,” said head coach Keidane McAlpine. “Because of that, we can focus a little more on going out and winning this game.”
Though the outcomes of the Stanford and Cal matchups didn’t fall in USC’s favor, McAlpine felt that the on-field performance of the team was strong.
“I felt our intensity was good this weekend, and for the most part we took care of the ball,” the first-year coach said. “However, we weren’t as good in the final third, and so our opponents were able to come back at us with counterattacks.”
Naturally, this week’s preparation for the Sun Devils has largely been structured with last weekend’s performance in mind, as the two games against top-notch talent revealed specific areas of the Women of Troy’s game that needed improvement. Specifically, the team has been working on improving its finishing around the net after the team managed just four shots-on-goal combined in the two weekend games.
“Practice this week has been about finding opportunities to get behind the defensive line more,” McAlpine said. “We need to find more opportunities in the final third to create more goal-scoring chances on frame, especially against well-organized teams that have scouted us well.”
On the list of well-organized teams is Arizona State, who will enter Friday’s matchup at McAlister Field as one of the Pac-12’s biggest mysteries. Though they have just one win in their previous five contests, the Sun Devils tied with No. 1 ranked UCLA on Sept. 26. Their only loss since August came this past Friday to No. 20 Washington, 2-1.
Midfielder Aly Moon (20 points thus far on 8 goals and 4 assists) and forward Cali Farquharson lead ASU’s attack. In order to cool off these two red-hot Sun Devils, the USC back line will have to be rock-solid.
“Arizona State has two great attacking personalities in Farquharson and Moon,” McAlpine said. “Slowing them down will be the most difficult aspect of playing ASU. However, if we can do that, we will have a great chance to win.”
The matchup kicks off at 2 p.m. on Friday at McAlister Field. The match is USC’s only one of the weekend.