Soccer looks to cut down the Trees on the road
USC’s first match with its rival Stanford since they both departed the Pac-12.
By MARCUS PARTIDA
In their first meeting as part of different conferences, USC and No. 1 Stanford are set to face off on the pitch Sunday.
This is USC (4-0-1) soccer’s first time encountering a former Pac-12 member since leaving the conference at the end of the 2023-24 season, and it is the Trojans’ highest-ranked matchup yet. The Cardinal’s (6-0-0) current undefeated streak has propelled them to the top, while USC currently sits outside of the top 25, despite gaining momentum with a four-win streak.
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Thursday’s 2-0 victory against the University of San Francisco (3-3) saw senior forward Kayla Colbert close the game out with the second goal of the night, marking her second goal this season. Stanford’s Thursday matchup ended with a 1-0 victory against Saint Mary’s College (2-3-1).
Although USC has a 4-14-3 all-time record against the Cardinal, it has gone unbeaten in its last four matchups with Stanford. In away matchups, the Trojans are down 1-4-2. Last season’s matchup ended in a 0-0 draw, but the Trojans were still able to get some promising shots off. Three of five shots on goal for USC came from current senior forward Simone Jackson, who is still looking for her first goal of this season.
Approaching the upcoming match, the Trojans are outsourcing their opponents with an average of 2.5 goals to one. The team has a total of 71 shots in five games, but its shot-on-goal percentage is down to 0.394.
Senior forward Maile Hayes leads the Trojans’ attack with three goals. The transfer from Texas A&M (3-2-0) got USC started with the first goal in its 2-2 tie to New Mexico State (4-2-1). Meanwhile, freshman forward Faith George leads the team in assists with a total of three, marking her third in Thursday’s match.
In goal, graduate student goalkeeper Laurence Gladu, another off-season addition after transferring from the University of Pennsylvania (0-3-2), holds 13 saves in five games and two shutouts.
The Cardinal enter the match with senior forward Andrea Kitahata as their top goal scorer; she has five goals in six games. Kitahata also leads the team in assists alongside freshman midfielder Charlotte Kohler and junior forward Allie Montoya with six assists between the three of them.
Offensively, Stanford has a high shot volume, totaling 117 shots taken and a shot-on-goal percentage of 0.495. The Cardinal have also proven they can get defensive stops, with senior goalkeeper Haley Craig allowing just one goal in six games played.
A bit of aggressive play is not out of the question with these two teams. USC averages 8.4 fouls per game, and Stanford averages seven fouls per game. Neither school has received a red card, but together, they’ve already collected five total yellow cards.
USC hopes to upset Stanford on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Maloney Field at Laird Cagan Stadium.
