Women’s soccer looks to recover Pac-12 win streak

The No. 6 women’s soccer team (11-1-1) will be looking to add a pair of victories to their already impressive Pac-12 record when they head north to Washington to take on both Washington and Washington State tomorrow and Sunday respectively.

Washington (9-4-2) is coming off a tough road loss to No. 1 Stanford, falling to the Cardinal 1-0.  Although the breakthrough for the Cardinal occurred in the 86th minute courtesy of redshirt junior Kyra Carusa, the Cardinal had been testing the Huskies’ back line all night.  Stanford led the Huskies in shots (26-7) and shots on target (11-3).  This could be good news for the Trojans as they have constantly outshot their opponents this season, averaging just under 19 shots a game while conceding 8.5 per game.  

However the Huskies are not to be overlooked as they have an impressive record against ranked opposition this season, with their most impressive performance coming in a 1-0 home win against the then-No. 2 Florida Gators.  When playing ranked opposition, Washington comes prepared and plays hard even in defeat, losing 1-0 to both Stanford this past week and earlier to No. 18 Cal.  The Trojans must be wary of the Huskies as they look to add another signature win to their resume.

The Trojans will then take on Washington State (7-5-2) who last played on Saturday, falling to Cal 2-0 on the road.  The Cougars went down early in the sixth minute and never were able to mount a comeback, conceding the second goal in the 72nd minute.  The scoreline is deceiving as the game was quite an even affair, with the Bears barely outshooting the Cougars 13-11. This statistic should be of interest to the Trojans as the Cougars were able to consistently penetrate the Bears’ defense and make the day tough for the Cal goalkeeper.

The Cougars are led in offense by sophomore striker Morgan Weaver, who has 6 goals to her name this season and junior defender Maddy Haro, who has 4 goals and five assists.  The Trojans will have to be vigilant in marking these two attacking threats as they have proven to be dangerous throughout the entire season.

The Trojans are continuing to score for fun this season, hitting the back of the net 25 times this season while only conceding 8 goals.  The Trojans will need to continue this blistering offensive pace if they want results in Washington this weekend, as the Huskies and Cougars have only given up 7 and 12 goals this season respectively.   

In their last game against Colorado, the Trojans were able to start fast and take a 2-0 lead within the opening 20 minutes. Facing a pair of defenses this weekend that have conceded less than a goal per game, the Trojans will need to be smart in possession and in defense.  

If they can achieve this, it would be another giant leap toward Pac-12 dominance, as they still trail Stanford and are level on points with No. 2 UCLA.  Bringing a pair of wins back to Los Angeles at the conclusion of this weekend will be of great benefit to the Trojans as they look to close out their undefeated Pac-12 season, with their toughest tests still to come in the form of Cal, UCLA and Stanford.