Coming off the closest game of legendary USC football coach John McKay’s 1972 national championship season, he wasn’t satisfied. 

According to ESPN, Mckay said he would “like to beat Stanford by 2,000 points,” rather than the 9-point margin his Trojans won by that day. He also added that the Cardinal had “no class.” 

Stanford women’s lacrosse coach Danielle Spencer described the rivalry as “those two California schools going at it” in an interview with USA Lacrosse Magazine.  

In soccer, the rivalry is no different, with Trojan vs. Cardinal games being historically defined by last-second losses, inflamed tensions and a fight for all the marbles. 

“It’s always a great matchup year after year,” said Head Coach Jane Alukonis in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “[They’re] always really exciting games, always extremely competitive. It’s fairly deeply rooted in terms of competitiveness and recruiting.”

USC hopes to stay undefeated

No. 6-ranked USC will take on No. 1 Stanford at Rawlinson Stadium on Thursday, the first time the two will play in the stadium’s inaugural season. The Trojans hope to pull off the upset against a powerful Cardinal team and overwrite past season losses against Stanford. 

“We’re both incredible soccer programs with great academics in California, and so our players all know each other,” Alukonis said. “Within the game there’s a lot of bragging rights for whoever wins.”

To start off the season, the Trojans have won three and drawn once, with all four games played at home. Most recently, USC tied unranked Portland 0-0 on Aug. 28, even though they outshot the Pilots 18 to seven. 

So far, junior forward Maribel Flores and sophomore midfielder Ines Derrien lead the team in goals with three each. Flores especially starred in USC’s win against Pepperdine on Aug. 21, curling in two goals from the edge of the 18-yard box in a thrilling 3-2 win.

Defensively, the Trojans have relied on graduate goalkeeper Bella Grust, filling the shoes of 2024 goalkeeper Laurence Gladu, who was named Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year in the Trojans’ — and Gladu’s — inaugural Big Ten season. In front of Grust, Alukonis has used a younger line, with freshmen defenders Edra Bello and Alison Hou starting all four games for USC. 

‘An extremely competitive match’

Now, USC must transition to face the No. 1-ranked team in the country in Stanford, who has yet to lose a game this season and made it to the NCAA semifinals last season. Stanford has outscored its opponents 25-2, including a 7-0 rout of the University of San Francisco in its first game of the season. 

Last season, the Cardinal, ranked No. 1 at the time as well, handed the Trojans their first loss after scoring twice in the first half, including six minutes into the contest. The game ended 2-1, with USC putting up a good — but ultimately futile — showing in the second half. 

“Our team knows this will be an extremely competitive match, and we’re gonna have to be focused and driven and competing for the whole 90 minutes,” Alukonis said. 

Stanford senior midfielder Jasmine Aikey has put up five goals and one assist in five games. Senior forward Allie Montoya and sophomore midfielder Charlotte Kohler are not far behind with four goals each. Montoya also leads the team with three assists. 

Defensively, senior defender Elise Evans and sophomore defender Lizzie Boamah have held the Stanford backline, starting five and four games respectively for the Cardinal this season.

Rawlinson already ‘feels like home’

This will be the first top-ranked opponent the Trojans have faced at Rawlinson Stadium, a $38 million project that USC Athletics finished this summer. 

“It feels like home,” Alukonis said of Rawlinson Stadium. “The first few games, we had incredible support from the student body, other student athletes, the community, the athletic department, young fans within [Los Angeles]. The feeling of everybody coming together and wanting to watch the team play has been really cool.”

The Trojans lost 10 players to graduation last year, including multi-year veterans like defender Brooklyn Courtnall and midfielder Helena Sampaio. Now, the team has only eight upperclassmen on a roster of 27. 

“This is a group that wants to come together and be the best individuals that they can for the team,” Alukonis said. “They’ve set their own team expectations and cultural expectations within the group and what it means to be a good teammate, and they really hold each other accountable for that.”

Past Stanford, the Trojans will begin their sophomore Big Ten season with a home game against Washington before a trip to Michigan, where they will face both Michigan State and Michigan.

“You use the non-conference to try to establish style of play, selecting lineups and knowing the performance level of each player,” Alukonis said. “When it gets into the conference, it feels like a new competition is starting.”

USC will face Stanford on Thursday at Rawlinson Stadium at 6:30 p.m. for its last non-conference bout before Big Ten play.