Trojans return for three game homestand

With three games remaining in the regular season, it is officially the homestretch for USC women’s soccer.

The Trojans will return from a three-game road trip to play University of Washington on Thursday at Soni McAlister Field. The Huskies, competing with a Pac-12 Conference record of 3-4-1 this season, can only hope to play spoiler to USC and UCLA as they close out the year.

USC, 5-1-2, sits at third in the conference behind Stanford and the crosstown rival Bruins.

In their last trio of away games, the Trojans defeated University of California, Berkeley 2-0 and tied University of Utah in a scoreless match before forcing a 1-1 draw against University of Colorado, Boulder on Oct. 23. Back-to-back ties complicate USC’s potential path to the top of the Pac-12, but the easiest — and really only — way  for the Trojans to end up on top is to win their remaining games.

“We’re the type of team where ties feel like losses,” said first-year Head Coach Jane Alukonis. “I think we came away pretty bummed, and know we have to have a really strong rebound.” 

In order to “rebound,”  Alukonis’ team must continue to do what they do best: keep the other team off the scoreboard.

Defense has been at a premium this year for USC, a team that has not allowed more than one goal in a game since its Sept. 15 win against University of California, Irvine, 3-2.

“I wouldn’t call us a defensive team,” Alukonis said. “We’ve always been known for attacking firepower, but certainly one of [our] aims was to improve defensively. Our backline has done great, goalkeeping has been great.”

Trojans graduate goalkeeper Anna Smith is third in the Pac-12 with nine goals allowed in 14 games. Washington is in the middle-of-the-Pac in defensive metrics, allowing the sixth-most goals in the conference with 15.

Washington’s attack is distributed fairly evenly. Five Huskies have scored 4 or more goals so far this season. Atop those options is fifth-year forward Summer Yates, who leads the team with 6 goals and 6 assists in 16 games this season.

“Summer Yates has been there a while and she’s always a target player for them,” Alukonis said. “She plays the 10 [star attacking midfielder] and she’s super creative.” 

Despite the team’s struggles, Washington’s offense is fourth in the conference in average goals at 1.63. Coincidentally, the Huskies allow 1.63 goals on average, ranking ninth among Pac-12 teams.

The Trojans offense is much more top-heavy, with the feature scorer being senior midfielder Croix Bethune. In 13 games this season, Bethune leads USC in goals (7), assists (8), shots (46) and game-winning goals (3). When she last faced Washington last October, she scored both of USC’s goals in a 2-2 draw.

“She’s very busy,” Alukonis said. “She’s one that opponents scout. She gets followed around every game by a man mark. I think she’s probably taken on the role as the most distracting player that we have right now, which in some games opens up opportunities for others.” 

USC will end the season on a three game homestand, capped off by a Nov. 4 finale against the No. 1 team in the nation, UCLA. While it’s still possible for that matchup to make USC eligible for the Pac-12 championship, it is unlikely given that both the Bruins and Stanford have a 4 point lead on USC in the standings as of Oct. 25.

“We’ve been talking about the [conference championship] since the day we got here,” Alukonis said. “USC has never won the Pac-12, despite winning two national championships. But at this point, the Pac-12 will not be determined solely by our results, but we know we’re still in it, and obviously we’ll fight until the end to finish as high as possible.”

USC will face off against the Huskies Thursday at Soni McAlister Field at 2 p.m.