The USC soccer team will face Oregon (5-7) at Dignity Health Sports Park at noon Saturday. The match will be the Trojans’ 25th time facing the Ducks, and Head Coach Jane Alukonis’ squad will look to extend a 11-year win streak against Oregon.

The game is also the Trojans’ senior day, celebrating the 10 senior players on the team.

“[The seniors] are the ones that have been with me and Coach Sugar [Shinohara] the whole time that we’ve been here, so they’re a very special group to us, a group that we really care about,” Alukonis said in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “I would say [the seniors] definitely have an understanding of what it means to be a Trojan, understanding what it means to fight and compete, and trying to be good leaders for their younger teammates. It’s a group that absolutely loves the game and makes us our best selves when they’re competing.”

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The team’s last meeting with Oregon came just a year ago, before both teams made the move to the Big Ten. Senior midfielder Helena Sampaio put away a penalty kick before senior forward Simone Jackson scored a brace, clinching a 3-0 win for the Trojans.

“Oregon definitely is a well-known opponent, because we play them so often,” Alukonis said. “I think they’ll give us a hardworking, well-thought, organized game of soccer. And of course, we’re happy to be home, happy for it to be senior day.”

USC hopes to repeat its last performance against Oregon and capitalize on momentum from its last outing against Wisconsin (5-3-3), where the Trojans trounced the Badgers 3-0.

Jackson also scored against Wisconsin, while Sampaio assisted a goal by senior midfielder Maria Alagoa. Freshman forward Jaiden Anderson then converted a penalty kick in the dying minutes of the game.

The Trojans also drew with Minnesota (8-2-2) Thursday in their first ever Big Ten matchup. Senior forward Maile Hayes opened up the scoring within the first minute of play, after a beautiful setup from senior forward Kayla Colbert and Sampaio. Colbert would score another goal in the 23rd minute, but the Golden Gophers would score twice in the second half to secure a crucial point.

“I would say things that we worked on after Minnesota and Wisconsin are some of our defending, some of our attacking and a bit of work on how we dominate and control games,” Alukonis said of how her team can improve against Oregon. “How we react and stay in control with clear, level heads and focused on the mission, even if things for moments of the game we feel don’t go our way.”

Offensively, Oregon and USC have similar statistics, with the Trojans’ 42.6% shot on goal percentage vs. the Ducks’ 41.5%. USC averages more goals per game with 1.82 compared to Oregon’s 1.17.

Currently, Hayes and Colbert are tied for the team lead in goals, with four each. Sampaio leads the squad in assists with four, but has also slotted home two goals as well so far this season.

Historically, USC’s offense has outscored the Ducks 47-13 through the 24 matchups between the former Pacific-12 foes. The largest Trojan margin of victory against Oregon came in 2022, with USC alum and Olympic gold medalist Croix Bethune scoring a brace, while Colbert and senior midfielder Aaliyah Farmer each put up a goal a piece on the way to a 4-0 thrashing of the Ducks.

On the defensive end, the Ducks currently lead in goalkeeper saves, 52 to 32. However, the Trojans’ back line is strong, recording six clean sheets in 11 games. USC graduate goalkeeper Laurence Gladu has earned a season save percentage of 80%, winning Woman of the Match in USC’s win over Purdue.

Oregon redshirt junior goalkeeper Maddie Goldberg has also had an impressive season with a 71.4% save percentage. Her best performance came against UCLA, when Oregon fell 2-1 to the Bruins, but Goldberg put up 11 saves. Additionally, Goldberg reached 150 career saves for the Ducks in their 1-0 loss to Purdue over the weekend. Goldberg and the Ducks defensive line have put up four clean sheets in twelve games so far this season.

Hoping to capitalize on newfound Big Ten momentum and extend its decade-long win streak on senior day, USC will take to the pitch to face Oregon this Saturday at noon at Dignity Health Sports Park.