Women’s soccer returns home after tough road loss


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Sophomore forward Penelope Hocking has 9 goals so far this season — the second most on her team after junior forward Tara McKeown. She also has four assists. ( Yannick Peterhans / Daily Trojan)

The No. 7 USC women’s soccer team is preparing for its final home games of the regular season against No. 18 Washington State and No. 12 Washington. 

The Trojans are coming off a disappointing 3-0 loss to Cal Friday in Berkeley. It was USC’s first loss to the Bears in two seasons and the first time the high-scoring Trojan offense has been shutout this season. 

Cal capitalized on virtually every opportunity from start to finish, scoring three times on 10 attempts.

The Trojans switched goalkeepers in the second half, as head coach Keidane McAlpine brought in former Pac-12 Keeper of the Year redshirt junior Kaylie Collins to replace sophomore Anna Smith. Collins saw her first action since suffering an injury in August and allowed two goals in the second half as Cal padded its lead on its way to the upset win. 

The Trojans have struggled this season on the road with an overtime win, an overtime tie and now a loss in six games away from McAlister Field. USC will be happy to be back at home where it has been dominant, outscoring opponents a combined 11-5.

“I didn’t think we matched the competitiveness they brought to the game,” McAlpine said in an interview with USC Athletics. “As such, they were able to capitalize on all the mistakes that we made.”

This has been a trend for the Trojans in games where they have fallen behind. No one doubts the Trojans’ talent and skill, but at times it seems as though USC’s competitive play takes a while to get going.

Sophomore forward Penelope Hocking said the loss to the Bears should kick the Trojans into high gear

“We’re not playing the best we can,” she said. “After the Cal loss, I think that was kind of a wake up call for us. We’re not there yet, we need to work on a lot of things to get where we want to be.”

USC will have the week to try to hit the reset button before facing two of the highest ranked teams in the Pac-12. Washington State ranks No. 4 and Washington comes in at No. 2 in the conference.

There are no cakewalks in the Pac-12 this season. It has been one of the tougher years in the conference’s history, with all but one team boasting a record over .500 and eight schools ranked in the Top 40 according to RPI rankings. 

The Trojans have won their last five matches against the Cougars and their last three against the Huskies, but the team’s focus is on the present. 

Hocking said it will be crucial for USC to approach the remainder of its schedule one game at a time instead of looking ahead to the playoffs. 

“For the rest of the season, we’re just really focused on each game,” Hocking said. “Taking each game one game at a time, and really focusing for the Washington State game.”

The race for the Pac-12 championship may be out of reach for the Trojans, who have two losses already in conference play and are looking up at a terrific Stanford team holding first place. Still, USC’s confidence in its future success has not wavered.

“I think we’re going to take it one game at a time and work on things we need to work on going into the postseason,” Hocking said. “We’ll be fine.” 

USC will look to get back to its winning ways as it takes on Washington State Thursday at McAlister Field for a 3 p.m. kickoff and Washington Sunday at 1 p.m.