After a long offseason, No. 2 USC returned home to the Uytengsu Aquatics Center to host back-to-back games Friday night, dismantling No. 18 UC Santa Barbara and Biola University. With a 19-hour turnaround and an almost 130-mile trek south to San Diego, the Trojans then went on the road, beating San Diego State University to cap off a perfect weekend and 5-0 start to the season. 

With only five total home games this season and the next arriving Feb. 28, the Trojans won’t get many chances to play in front of a home crowd. For junior attacker Meghan McAninch, despite the limited opportunities, playing at home has been well worth the wait.

“It’s a long offseason. We had two tough games, and we don’t have a ton of home games this year,” McAninch said in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “It’s really nice just to be back here and soak it all in before we start conference play.” 

In USC’s first match against the Gauchos, who they beat last week, the team jumped out to a blistering 18-0 lead through nearly three quarters of play. Again on Friday, the Trojans relied heavily on their speed and conditioning, enabling their counterattack offense to consistently produce two-on-one opportunities. 

Alongside their conditioning, USC’s 14 defensive turnovers also created opportunities. When the Trojans couldn’t produce turnovers, their frontcourt defense held UCSB scoreless through the majority of the game, with redshirt sophomore goalkeepers Anna Reed and Lauren Schneider tallying five and four saves, respectively. 

With both sides of the ball clicking, USC cruised to a 23-4 win, earning its first home victory of the season.

The Trojans didn’t have time to rest as they jumped back in the pool less than 15 minutes later to play against Biola in the last game of Friday night’s round-robin. While USC again put up at least 20 points, the main focus for the team wasn’t on the scoring, but on how they’d stay focused over back-to-back games. 

“Our ultimate goal is to be 1-0 every week,” third-year Head Coach Casey Moon said in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “These games are tough to be focused in the entire game, but our approach and intent was much better this week. Last week, we really struggled in that, and we really missed, but we had an opportunity tonight, and we did well.”

The Trojans were led by McAninch and sophomore attacker Emily Ausmus, who led the team in goals with 5 and 4, respectively. The threat the two outside attackers posed opened up opportunities for junior center Rachel Gazzaniga, who added another 2 goals, on top of multiple five-meter penalties drawn. 

Despite a 6-goal fourth quarter flurry from the Eagles, USC closed out the game with a comfortable 21-12 win to finish Friday night’s series. 

Rounding out the weekend against the Aztecs, the Trojans got off to another hot start, outscoring the home team 14-3 through the second quarter. Spearheaded by senior attacker Maggie Johnson’s 4 goals, USC spread the ball around with eight different players scoring. With that offensive potency paired with the group’s defensive hold, the Trojans were able to come away with a 22-8 victory, capping off a third straight game with at least 20 goals scored. 

The team’s depth contributed to both its offensive counterattack and, more importantly, its ability to handle three games within a sub-24-hour span.

“It’s a long weekend, but we love playing games, and we love competing,” Johnson said. “Ultimately, at the end of the season, we want to be playing at an NCAA Championship, which is a three-day-long tournament. So this is good preparation for that.”

USC will take another trip to San Diego on Friday for the three-game Triton Invitational at Canyonview Aquatic Center.