USC falls to Oregon in overtime

The USC women’s soccer team has started off conference play with five overtime games in a row, and it seems as though the extra time is starting to take its toll.

The Women of Troy (4-6-3, 0-4-1) tied Oregon State 1-1 on Friday before losing to Oregon in double-overtime on Sunday 1-0, running the squad’s winless streak to four matches.

Junior midfielder Elizabeth Eddy, last season’s leading scorer, and junior midfielder Haley Boysen both suffered concussions during Friday’s match at Oregon State and missed Sunday’s game against Oregon. The team also lost sophomore defender Alex Quincey to a leg injury last weekend.

“We were missing some key players today,” USC coach Ali Khosroshahin said following Sunday’s loss. “When you’re missing three players that normally start, you have to make some adjustments … I thought they played pretty well considering the circumstances.”

Freshman forward Whitney Pitalo, sophomore defender Hannah Moehling and sophomore midfielder Elizabeth Caparis all saw more time on the field than usual on Sunday to offset the personnel losses.

Sophomore goalkeeper Caroline Stanley gave credit to the girls that received more playing time.

“We’ve been installing different formations and counting on different players to perform different roles,” Stanley said. “The girls that stepped up off the bench did an excellent job.”

The Ducks (6-6-2, 1-3-1) earned their first conference win by pressuring USC’s back line from the start, outshooting the Women of Troy 9-4 in the first half.

USC’s defense, buoyed by Stanley’s nine saves, held strong through regulation. But the Women of Troy struggled to create chances of their own: The team managed only three shots on goal the entire game, and didn’t take any corner kicks.

In overtime, a shot from Oregon’s Kira Wagoner hit off the crossbar and bounced to her teammate Kristen Parr, who knocked in the golden goal in the 96th minute to claim victory for the Ducks.

“[Parr] got an early Christmas present with that rebound,” Stanley said. “It was unlucky for us, but we have to eliminate those shots.”

The loss made for a sour end to a weekend that started off with a hard-fought tie against Oregon State (9-4-1, 1-3-1).

USC came out of the locker room on the offensive, outshooting the Beavers 13-6 and generating six corner kicks in the first half.

The Women of Troy finally drew first blood in the 71st minute, when freshman forward Jamie Fink cut to her right on the left side of the pitch just outside of the box and tucked in an unassisted goal that bounced off the right post.

But less than three minutes later, the Women of Troy gave their lead away on an own goal from freshman defender Marlee Carrillo.

“We didn’t do a good job of marking the opposing player that ran in the box to get a cross,” Khosroshahin said. “So on the cross, Marlee tried to swipe it away and it just didn’t work out.”

The score would stay even through the last 17 minutes of regulation and two 10-minute overtime periods.

Despite the disappointing results of their second consecutive weekend road trip, Stanley found some positives for the team to build on.

“This weekend, our defense was the most organized it’s been all season,” Stanley said. “I feel like everybody supported each other this weekend … [But] obviously it’s a little disheartening going to overtime so many times and not getting the results you want.”

USC plays its last road game of the season Friday at Washington State at 1 p.m. before ending the regular season with five straight home games.