No. 6 USC women’s soccer looks forward to concluding the Big Ten regular season Sunday at noon when it hosts No. 8 UCLA at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, CA. This rivalry matchup is also the decider of the conference championship.

“During the whole season, the game that we weighed the most … was against UCLA,” said senior midfielder Helena Sampaio in an interview with the Daily Trojan after securing a win last Sunday.

Both teams are competing for their first-ever Big Ten title in their inaugural season in the conference. The stakes are particularly high as both teams eye postseason positioning, with tournament play beginning Oct. 31. The top two teams receive a first-round bye, adding further intensity to this historically heated clash. 

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A win or tie in this game will secure USC (13-1-2, 9-0-1, Big Ten) the title and the No.1 seed, placing them in an advantageous position heading into the Big Ten tournament. On the other hand, UCLA (13-2-3, 8-0-2) needs a victory to overtake USC and become the top seed. 

Iowa (13-1-3, 8-1-1) has amassed 25 points through conference play, and it can sneak into the No. 2 seed depending on the results of the USC-UCLA showdown.

“​​We’re on a high right now, like going undefeated and then to play UCLA,” said senior midfielder Aaliyah Farmer. “It’s going to be a really good game, but I feel like we should definitely come on top.”

With USC in a prime position to snatch the conference title, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Trojans are headed to Carson with momentum. Through 10 intraconference games, USC is undefeated. The Trojans have picked up six consecutive wins against formidable opponents such as No. 16 Penn State (11-4-3, 5-3-2) and No. 15 Ohio State (10-4-3, 5-3-2). 

Their lone draw in Big Ten play came nearly a month ago on the road against Minnesota (11-3-3, 5-3-2), and the Trojans came back a few days later to shut out Wisconsin (8-4-4, 4-3-3) 3-0 in the Midwest as well.

With the home wins over the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions, USC holds a narrow 2-point lead over the Bruins in Big Ten standings, giving it a slight edge heading into the final. 

UCLA has also gone unbeaten through its 10 Big Ten games, but it had two draws, placing it below USC in the current standings. While USC has confidence heading into Saturday, the Bruins have an extensive history of soccer success to combat the Trojans’ optimism. UCLA has set a precedent for winning conference titles as it boasts 14 Pac-12 Championships and the Bruins are hungry to add the Big Ten title to their collection.

Originally slated to take place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum — just a short walk from the USC campus — this matchup’s venue changed to Dignity Health Sports Park less than a week before the game because of its field surface.

This will be USC’s first appearance at the 27,000-seat venue this season. The switch supposedly 

offers a better environment for high-level play and addresses USC’s ongoing facility challenges, given the construction delays at the soon-to-be Rawlinson Stadium.

Dignity Health Sports Park has hosted the crosstown showdown two times. UCLA won both of those matches: 1-0 in 2016 and 3-2 in 2018. However, with both teams at the top of their game this season, this weekend’s matchup will surely be a distinct affair. 

The Big Ten regular-season finale will kick off at noon Sunday and will be televised live on Big Ten Network.