Though it tied against different teams, USC soccer’s first two seasons in the Big Ten began similarly: a non-conference tie, a loss to then-No. 1 Stanford and an otherwise clean slate. 

But the variance in results in conference play only became clearer this weekend after the Trojans (7-5-1, 4-4-0 Big Ten) dropped back-to-back road games to Minnesota (6-6-2, 2-4-2) and No. 15 Wisconsin (11-3-1, 5-2-1) on goals in the final 10 minutes of play — both teams they at least tied with the year before.

Of USC’s four Big Ten losses this season, three have come against teams that last year’s squad — which didn’t lose a regular-season conference game — had a better showing against. 

Minnesota, the only team to tie USC in conference play last season, topped the Trojans 2-1 on Thursday. The Badgers beat the Trojans 1-0 on Sunday, while USC won last year’s matchup 3-0. Instead of starting Big Ten play with a 1-0 win against Washington (9-1-5, 6-0-2), the Huskies left Rawlinson Stadium with a 1-0 win of their own Sept. 11.

Now, with three games to go before the 10-team Big Ten conference tournament, the Trojans hope to turn their season around in games against a top opponent in No. 5 Iowa (10-2-3, 5-1-2) as well as Nebraska (7-3-5, 2-3-3) and crosstown rival UCLA (8-4-2, 4-2-2). 

USC ranks seventh in the Big Ten standings with 12 points — one win, ahead of 11th — so the end of the season is still critical for the Trojans’ playoff chances.

Minnesota jumped out to an early lead in the first two minutes of Thursday’s game, but it was the prowess of USC’s top two offensive players, sophomore forward Jaiden Anderson and junior forward Maribel Flores, that kept the team in it.

The pair combined for five of the Trojans’ six shots on goal against Minnesota, and Flores connected with Anderson midway through the first half to tie the score and secure USC’s only goal of the weekend. Having both played in all 13 games, the two star forwards now have near-identical team-leading stats with six goals, four assists, 34 shots and 15 shots on goal. 

Flores played all 180 minutes over the weekend after playing limited time in a 1-0 win over Oregon (2-9-4, 0-5-3) on Oct. 3, thanks to an injury sustained during a 2-1 win over Rutgers in late September.

Though the Trojans were nearly even in shots and shots on goal with the Gophers, USC surrendered eight corner kicks compared to their single corner and outfouled Minnesota, including two yellow cards. The Gophers’ goal in the 83rd minute came off one of the free kicks USC surrendered.

Against Wisconsin, sophomore defender Cassie Bibby became the third Trojan to earn a yellow card over the weekend — following senior defender Molly McDougal and junior forward Amalie Pianim on Thursday — though the Badgers had more than double USC’s fouls throughout the game. However, the Trojan attack remained largely stagnant, especially in the second half, where it only mustered one shot despite having four corner kicks.

With just under three minutes to play, a Wisconsin cross was deflected by graduate goalkeeper Bella Grust on the first try but went right into the clutches of graduate forward Adee Boer, who sealed the Trojans’ fate with a dagger to the back of the net. 

Grust saved 10-of-13 shots on goal over the weekend for a roughly 77% line, slightly above her just over 70% season average. After a rough four-game stretch in September that included surrendering four goals in a loss to No. 16 Michigan State (7-3-5, 4-1-3) and five goals to No. 2 Stanford (11-1-1, 5-0-1 ACC), Grust has only allowed four goals in USC’s last five games, though the Trojan attack has struggled to capitalize.

USC has only scored two goals in its three October contests — all of which came against then-unranked teams. Only Anderson and the team’s third-highest scorer, sophomore midfielder Ines Derrien, have scored in the team’s last four games; Derrien has four goals and two assists so far this season.

With the hope of regaining its footing and locking up a Big Ten tournament bid, USC will play its last three games of the season in Los Angeles: Nebraska and Iowa at Rawlinson Stadium and UCLA in Westwood.

The Cornhuskers, who are coming off two straight wins, are led by their own trio of goal scorers in graduate midfielder/forward Reagan Raabe, junior forward/defender Kayma Carpenter and junior midfielder/forward Ella Rudney. While none of the three have as many points as Flores or Anderson, the Nebraska attack is more balanced than the Trojans’ offense, with eight players having at least five points to USC’s four players.

Iowa has scored 10 more goals than USC this season as a whole, but only graduate forward/midfielder Kelli McGroarty’s six goals rival any of the Trojans’ top scorers. However, like Nebraska, the Hawkeyes are a lot more balanced than USC, with an astounding 15 players scoring at least three points this season to the Trojans’ five. Iowa is coming off a 5-3 win over Michigan State, which routed USC 4-0 on the road in September.

The Trojans will face off against Nebraska at 7 p.m. Thursday and Iowa at 6 p.m. Sunday, both at Rawlinson Stadium.