Women of Troy snap eight-game losing streak

For a team that’s been waiting more than a month for a win, what’s another 85 minutes?

After sophomore forward Elizabeth Eddy scored in the fifth minute, that’s how long the USC women’s soccer team had to wait before the final whistle blew on its first victory since Sept. 4.

That’s not to say the Women of Troy’s (4-11, 1-5) win over Washington on Friday wasn’t stressful.

Senior midfielder Brittany Kerridge got the assist of Eddy’s goal — her sixth assist of the season and 12th of her career, moving her into the top-10 in USC’s all-time career assist list.

“I can’t say enough about her performance,” USC coach Ali Khosroshahin said. “She’s been so consistent throughout her four years here. She’s just so solid and dependable. [She] makes my job easy as a coach.”

Apart from that lone goal, the game was largely dominated by the Huskies (6-6-3, 2-3-1).

“The game felt like an eternity,” Khosroshahin said. “Especially the last 10 seconds. They took forever.”

There was a mad scramble in the USC penalty box for the last seconds of the game, but unlike in previous games, the USC defense held strong.

“Relieved,” Khosroshahin said of his feelings after the game. “It hasn’t been an easy season for us. Our record really isn’t a good indicator of this team. It was good to prove that to ourselves.”

In a change from what has been the pace all season, it was USC who found itself on the short end of almost every stat category. The Women of Troy were outshot, drew fewer corner kicks and had fewer Khosroshahin.

But they found themselves on top of the scoreboard at the end of the game.

“It was 100 percent [ours] to win,” Khosroshahin said. “[We] came out very, very strong in the second half. [Washington] hit a post and we sorta shrunk back, not wanting to concede a goal.”

Goalposts have not been the Women of Troy’s friends this year, often redirecting their own shots out and their opponent’s shots in.

“First time this whole year that the other team hits a post and it went out and not in,” Khosroshahin said.

Freshman goalie Carley Pennington got her first career start and played all 90 minutes in place of usual starter sophomore Shelby Church, who has been suspended indefinitely. Church and junior midfielder Courtney Garcia were officially suspended Monday for a “violation of team rules,” Khosroshahin said. “And I can’t comment on that any further.”

Khosroshahin said both players will be out for the remainder of the season, which continues next weekend as the Women of Troy host Arizona State on Friday and Arizona on Sunday for senior day.