Soccer triumphs over Arizona State


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No. 8 Women’s Soccer boasts a 8-2-1 overall record and a 4-1 conference record, tying them with Stanford for second in the Pac-12 (Venkatesh Vayachal | Daily Trojan).  

Coming off of a 0-1 loss to Arizona, the Trojans looked to reestablish their command of PAC-12 conference play at their game against Arizona State Sunday, in which they emerged victorious 2-1. 

“After a big upset on Thursday… we had to come off this game strong with energy, just step the level up and come with intensity,” senior midfielder Croix Bethune said.

With the guidance of Assistant Coach Shigeyoshi “Sugar” Shinohara — former assistant at Arizona State — and Head Coach Jane Alukonis, USC struck early in the 11th minute. Off of a quick restart, sophomore midfielder Helena Sampaio assisted Bethune on a shot just outside the right post and into an open goal.  

“Sugar obviously had the experience of working with them before, so he gave the very best scout he could in terms of game plan… I was proud that we came out and scored early,” Alukonis said.

After a quick change of possession, sophomore forward Kayla Colbert carried the team downfield along the left bank. With her elegant and elusive ball movement, Colbert perfectly set up Bethune to score her second goal of the game, and seventh of the season. 

In response to the early deficit, Arizona State turned up the pressure on both ends of the field. Although they were scoreless in the first half, the Sun Devils gained momentum as they closed out the 45th minute, outshooting the Trojans 8 shots to 4 shots.

In the 48th minute, Arizona State capitalized on a scoring opportunity when freshman defender Meighan Farrell assisted a goal by freshman midfielder Enasia Colon. 

The Trojan defense held the ASU attack scoreless throughout the remainder of the match. 

“I’m glad we finished the job. We had some really strong defensive efforts that stopped some of their good opportunities,” Alukonis said. 

Alukonis believes that the key to USC’s defensive performance was “doing the job, grit and staying in tune the whole time.” 

“[Defender] Brandi Peterson had some really big stops and [Defender] Kaylin [Martin] had her hands full. [The] center backs had their hands full the whole game with [Forward] Nicole Douglas — she’s [a] top goal scorer in the country,” Alukonis said.

In the pregame Senior Day ceremony, the Trojans honored Bethune and Martin alongside senior forwards Jaelyn Eisenhart and Olufolasade Adamolekun, defenders Lily Babalola, Savannah Kessler and Nicole Payne, and forward Hannah White.

These seniors exhibited their leadership, experience and resilience this Sunday in the bounce-back victory. To commemorate one of their final home games, Bethune, Payne and Martin took charge of their ends of the field and each played a full 90 minutes.

On the defensive front, Martin and Payne restricted the impact of the Sun Devils’ 21 shots while also revealing their ability to make explosive plays down the field and facilitate shots on goal for the Trojan offense.

White rectified her offensive presence as she took her first shots on goal for the first time in three games, and Bethune’s brace revealed her continued evolution as an energizing leader and a scoring powerhouse when the ball is within her reach.

With this Senior Day win, the Trojans have regained their strength and cohesion at both ends of the field. 

“We worked harder… The full game has to be full effort or full focus every single time we play…. We knew that today we had to come out and give something different,” said Alukonis. 

The seniors will continue to lead their team as they enter the final six regular season matches of the season.

USC improves to 8-2-1 overall and 4-1-0 in Pac-12 play. The team will travel north this week to take on UC Berkeley  Friday at 4:00 p.m.