Trojans defeat Cougars in overtime in season opener

The No. 14 USC women’s soccer team opened its season Monday with a 4-3 win in overtime against No. 10 Brigham Young University. While the Trojans have typically played their home games at Soni McAlister field, their win against the Cougars took place in an empty Coliseum, their designated home field for the season.

The Trojans’ initial season-opener against Pepperdine was canceled due to positive coronavirus tests within the Waves’ team, forcing USC to miss out on its first scheduled game of the 2021 season. After waiting an extra few days to get started, the Trojans needed an extra 6:12 in overtime to secure a 1-0 start to their season. 

A defensive first half led to a surprising surge in attacking in the second, as the teams battled back and forth until graduate transfer forward Jennifer Westendorf’s overtime golden goal gave USC the win. 

Prior to transferring to USC, Westendorf played three seasons at Notre Dame and received All-ACC honors as a freshman and sophomore. 

The first 10 minutes of the game consisted of multiple defensive stands by both squads, with zero shots on goal by BYU. However, an offensive push in the 10th minute by the Trojans led to senior forward Tara McKeown’s first goal of the season. McKeown received a pass from sophomore midfielder Croix Bethune and navigated around BYU senior goalkeeper Cassidy Smith for the easy punch-in. 

Bethune, who missed the 2020 season due to an injury, made her first collegiate assist on the play. McKeown finished fourth in goals scored in the Pac-12 last season.

The Cougars answered in the 57th minute with a goal by sophomore forward Rachel McCarthy that leveled the game at 1-1. However, the tie did not last long. Two minutes later junior forward Penelope Hocking beat Smith in a one-on-one to put the Trojans back up a score. 

The goals continued in the 68th minute with sophomore midfielder Bella Folino scoring for the Cougars, again tying the game at 2 goals apiece. It only took two minutes for the Trojans to answer, when Hocking drew a foul in the penalty box and McKeown scored her second goal on a penalty kick. 

After 10 minutes of lockdown defensive play by both teams, Folino scored her second goal of the day, once again tying the game with just 13 minutes to play. Neither team was able to edge the other out in regulation, and it took a goal in the sixth minute of overtime by Jen Westendorf, once again assisted by Bethune, to secure a victory for USC. Westendorf’s goal was a powerful strike from outside of the box that never left the ground, weaving between two Cougar defenders.

Hocking and McKeown were one of the conference’s highest scoring duos last season, averaging a combined 1.49 goals per game last season. Hocking finished second in the Pac-12 in goals scored last season, netting 18. McKeown scored a total of 15, finishing in fourth in the conference. The duo accounted for 33 of USC’s 47 goals last season.

“I’m looking forward to them being even better,” said head coach Keidane McAlpine. “Last year was their first year to play up top together … I actually think the bond they have in their game is a little better than it was.” 

The pair are clearly continuing to ride that momentum, with 3 goals scored between the two in USC’s first game. Bethune also put on an impressive performance, recording two assists in her collegiate debut. 

McKeown, as well as Collins, were draft picks in the 2020 National Women’s Soccer League Draft. McKeown was the eighth overall pick by the Washington Spirit and Collins went in the fourth round to the Orlando Pride. However, due to a unique rule in the 2020 draft, both McKeown and Collins were able to defer for a year, and remain on the USC team. Fortunately for USC, their presence was clearly felt in Monday’s game.

The Trojans will open up conference play at Arizona State next Friday, Feb. 26. McAlpine is looking for his team to improve defensively, especially against the Sun Devils high-scoring offense. 

“I’m really hoping that we’ll just execute a little bit better over the 90 minutes, and hopefully, I can play a little bit deeper into our bench,” McAlpine said. 

The Sun Devils are 4-0 and have scored 3 or more goals in each of their games. Arizona State has also been impressive defensively with two shutouts so far this season. The game kicks off at 6 p.m. in Tempe, AZ.