USC women’s soccer opened up Big Ten play with a huge 1-0 victory over the Washington Huskies last Thursday, but now need to turn their attention to the Purdue Boilermakers — a much revamped squad after a couple of down years.

Though the Trojans (5-1-1, 1-0 Big Ten) and the Boilermakers (5-2-1, 1-0 Big Ten) are now in the same conference, this isn’t the first time Head Coach Jane Alukonis’ squad has battled Purdue since her arrival at USC. In Alukonis’ second game leading the Trojans, her squad fell 3-0 in front of a sold-out Folk Field in West Lafayette.

However, back home at McAlister Field the next season, USC flipped the script and trounced Purdue 4-0, recording three goals within a nine-minute period in the second half.

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Alukonis noted that Purdue’s strong home-crowd advantage is something the team will have to account for Purdue’s strong home crowd advantage going into Thursday’s match.

“[We] make sure we fine-tune what we didn’t love about the Washington game, but also make sure we’re well aware of what we think that Purdue might do to us,” Alukonis said in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “It’s also usually quite a loud crowd and environment, so just making sure the team is prepared [so] that if they can’t hear each other or us in that setting that they know what to do.”

Crowd noise will certainly play a factor, but the Trojans have gotten used to hostile environments, as their unusual schedule makes their upcoming match an eighth consecutive away game, in addition to having their “home” field at Dignity Health Sports Park. The Trojans’ crazy calendar has led them to utilize sports scientists and nutritionists more frequently, and Alukonis said she’s been working hard to manage players’ loads to make up for the squad’s constant travel.

The chaotic schedule also forces USC to adjust its strategy compared to years prior, such as making more substitutions and being more conservative with the number of training sessions. Despite overload precautions and taking travel into account, any team would find this abnormal of a schedule difficult to navigate.

USC’s win over Washington (3-2-2, 0-1 Big Ten) proved that they can overcome the lack of rest, especially given that the Huskies didn’t play a game the Sunday prior like the Trojans did, and they played on home turf.

“There were some logistics or other things that maybe were in Washington’s favor, so I was really proud because sometimes teams pull out results, even if we all know it wasn’t our best game,” Alukonis said. “But the fact that they were still able to secure the result and kind of stay very strong in some difficult moments … I was really proud.”

Logistics aside, the Trojans have an experienced and talented roster this season. Many of the 10 seniors were freshmen when Alukonis took over the program in 2022 and are now leading the Trojans in what may be their final season. The level of depth has been instrumental in helping younger players and transfers navigate a new environment and deal with a strange schedule. For Alukonis, it’s been beyond rewarding to watch the players that arrived alongside her develop over the years and mentor the new arrivals.

“Sometimes for freshmen, they’re like, ‘Oh my god, it’s my first year.’ And for seniors, they’re like, ‘Oh my god, it’s my last year,’” Alukonis said. “But to be able to execute and take care of business, under a different environment than in past years, I really applaud them. It takes a lot of maturity [and] a lot of believing in yourself, believing in the team and just coming in and doing the hard work every day.”

The leading goalscorers for the Trojans so far this season are senior forwards Maile Hayes and Kayla Colbert, as well as midfielder Maria Alagoa, with the latter two having played their entire college careers under Alukonis. Their offensive contributions this year are certainly impactful, but knowing the program’s systems and tactics inside and out is immeasurably important while the Trojans simultaneously undergo a conference and stadium transition this current season.

Even though the squad is a mix of transfers, newcomers and veterans, Alukonis is proud of how they’ve come together so far.

“When we’re on, we are excellent and put so much pressure on the opponents. We move the ball nicely and play together as a team,” Alukonis said. “[They’ve] been supportive of each other, been good teammates and they have a great team culture [of] staying positive despite probably having the hardest challenge of any team in terms of being off-site for every game.”

The Trojans are set to face the Boilermakers this Thursday at Folk Field at 5 p.m.