No. 8 USC travels to No. 3 UCLA for Pac-12 title


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Junior midfielder Croix Bethune dribbles past a Berkeley defender during USC’s match on Oct. 28.
Junior midfielder Croix Bethune dribbles past a Berkeley defender during USC’s match on Oct. 28. Bethune scored the game winning goal against Stanford Sunday, keeping the Pac-12 title alive. (Peter Gastis | Daily Trojan)

USC women’s soccer will round out its 2021-22 Pac-12 season in a de facto conference title match against cross-town rivals No. 3 UCLA. The derby match comes after the Trojans defeated former title contenders Stanford in an overtime thriller after conceding 2 goals in the first half. 

USC remains atop the Pac-12 standings with 26 points after 10 conference matches. UCLA,
unbeaten in all season matches, are second in the conference with 24 points. With a win or draw, the Trojans would clinch its first outright Pac-12 title in program history. 

The Bruins come off a narrow win against Berkeley as junior forward Mia Fishel scored a golden goal in double overtime to keep UCLA in conference title contention. Fishel is currently UCLA’s highest goalscorer and has provided 5 goals and 4 assists in conference play this season. 

USC faced the Bruins twice last season, both 2-2 affairs. The Trojans ended UCLA’s eight-game winning run during their first bout in a friendly match in the middle of the Pac-12 season. 

Head Coach Keidane McAlpine looks to see improvements from last season’s matches against UCLA. 

“It’s not just any game — it’s a championship game,” said Coach McAlpine in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “We’ve had two brief matches with [UCLA] in the spring that both ended in draws … We feel like we’re better than we were in the two matches that we played last year so we feel good about our ability to go out and play well.” 

Despite beating Stanford 3-2 last Sunday to remain first in the Pac-12, USC conceded two first half goals at home. 

Junior midfielder Croix Bethune’s goal and freshman forward Simone Jackson’s contributions helped the Trojans come back from the 2-0 deficit and cemented an invincible home record for the 2021-2022 Pac-12 season. 

“We had a lack of defensive understanding, so we didn’t do well enough in the way we wanted to do it,” McAlpine said. “From a mentality standpoint, I thought that, once we got a little down in the game in the first half we didn’t quite hold onto our confidence … I’d like to see us rebound a little faster.” 

Senior forward Penelope Hocking, all-time program goalscorer, remains questionable for the derby match after experiencing an injury against Washington State two weeks ago. 

Junior forwards Hannah White and Jackson emerged from the bench in past matches and pitched in important performances. Redshirt senior midfielder Savannah DeMelo also adopted a more defensive role in McAlpine’s side. 

“The confidence that [White, Jackson and DeMelo] have in their roles changing have been important and paramount to our success,” McAlpine said. “I also feel like [freshman midfielder] Helena Sampaio came into the game and gave us great minutes, and, even though there were only a few moments, [freshman forward] Julia Gomez and [sophomore forward] Katie Roditis gave us great minutes.” 

USC and UCLA will compete in their last match of the Pac-12 season in what will determine the conference winner. Both teams remain unbeaten in conference play and look to become the best team in not only the Pac-12 but in Los Angeles. 

“In this match, the intensity is high, the crowd is fantastic — we’ll be playing against another sold-out crowd,” McAlpine said. “That energy also hypes up the game and the players have a better energy about them … It’s one of those games that will hold up a lot of meaning, just as the schools being rivals, but will also hold a lot of meaning when it comes to preparation for the tournament.”

The Trojans will face the Bruins Friday in the Bruins’ Wallis Annenberg Stadium. Kick off begins at 8 p.m.