No. 6 USC soccer entered Thursday night’s matchup against No. 1 Stanford with excitement, hoping to prove they could compete with the top-ranked team in the country. Instead, the Trojans walked away demoralized after being dominated 5-1 on their home turf. 

“We just know we have a lot to work on, and we have to be humble with that and use it as motivation,” said Head Coach Jane Alukonis in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “Something like this happening early in the season isn’t always the worst thing, but we have to be able to respond in a positive way.”

A tale of two halves

The first half of the game promised a competitive match: Stanford scored just once and only had a slight advantage in shots, 5-4. After halftime, however, the Trojans (3-1-1) unraveled, unable to keep pace with the Cardinal (6-1).

Stanford redshirt senior forward Andrea Kitahata got the ball rolling, scoring in the 25th minute off of her right foot and putting the ball just out of the reach of graduate goalkeeper Bella Grust. That goal set the tone for the Cardinal, and they never looked back. 

Stanford hardly seemed homesick in its first road game of the season. The Cardinal scored four goals in the second half, three of which came in the last 13 minutes of the match.

Sophomore midfielder Eleanor Klinger scored two goals in that timeframe, including an incredible strike from about 25 yards out that left the crowd stunned. Freshman midfielder/forward Brooke Holden scored in the 86th minute, finishing a cross off the left post to secure Stanford’s fourth five-goal game of the season. 

USC’s only goal came in the 80th minute when junior forward Maribel Flores had a prime touch to find sophomore forward Jaiden Anderson, who finished it for her third goal of the season.

By that point in the game, however, the Cardinal had already shown what made them the No. 1 team in the country. 

“They’re really good. They have experience. They have depth. They have everything you need in a successful team,” Alukonis said. “But at the same time, so do we. I think that’s a bit [of] what we’re frustrated with.”

Looking to the future

The Trojans did have small victories throughout the game, forcing Stanford into eight offsides and finding good shot opportunities for sophomore forward Faith George, Flores and Anderson. Still, Alukonis said the team wasted several opportunities. 

“We have to take care of the ball better. We give the ball away too easily, and therefore we have to run a lot, so when we do get it, then we’re tired,” Alukonis said. 

When asked if the game felt closer than the score suggested, Alukonis had a clear answer: “No.”

The loss ended USC’s four-game undefeated run to start the season and dropped the Trojans to 7-21-5 all-time against Stanford, their former Pacific-12 foe. The rest of the season won’t get much easier for the Trojans, as five of their opponents were ranked in the top 25 of the Coaches’ Poll to finish the 2024 season. Two of their Big Ten opponents are currently ranked in the top 25: No. 11 Iowa (4-1-1) and No. 18 UCLA (4-2). 

USC will get a week-long break before its first Big Ten matchup of the season, going head-to-head against the Washington Huskies at 7 p.m. on Sept. 11 at Rawlinson Stadium.