USC swept by Oklahoma State, Texas
Twenty minutes after the USC women’s soccer team’s 2-1 loss to Texas on Sunday, USC coach Ali Khosroshahin sat motionless on his team’s bench, trying to comprehend what he just watched. The Women of Troy had been 10 minutes away from their first home win of the season. Ten minutes away from pitching their first shutout of the season. Things can change quickly.
Scoring drought · Sophomore midfielder Autumn Altamirano provided the Women of Troy their lone goal of the weekend set, scoring in the 33rd minute Sunday against Texas. USC eventually fell in double overtime. - Jaideep Chadha | Daily Trojan
Twelve minutes into overtime, Texas forward Vanessa Ibewuike knocked a goal into the right corner with such precision that USC sophomore goalie Shelby Church could only watch.
When the ball hit the back of the net, there was eruption from the Longhorn sideline. There was only silence from the USC sideline.
It wasn’t indifference. It was shock. For some 80 minutes, the Women of Troy (3-5) dominated Texas (6-2), doubling the Longhorns’ shot total in the first half.
In the 34th minute, a point-blank rocket by sophomore midfielder Autumn Altamirano put the Women of Troy up 1-0.
Freshman midfielder Elizabeth Caparis — streaking down the right sideline — centered the ball to junior forward Samantha Johnson. Johnson put it on net, and the rebound came right to Altamirano, who fired it home.
As the minutes ticked away, Texas poured on the pressure. Playing with three forwards instead of the usual two, they forced corner after corner, and the USC defense could do nothing but clear the ball downfield. Church was forced to make a sensational diving save on a Longhorn free kick. The breakthrough was inevitable, and in the 80th minute, it happened.
In what Khosroshahin referred to as a “defensive breakdown,” the Women of Troy conceded a free kick to Texas. The result was a mad scramble directly in front of the USC goal, and the ball in the end was headed over Church and into the USC goal.
“We can’t keep letting down in the back,” Khosroshahin said. “Our back-third defense was solid the whole game, but when you play teams like this they’re gonna capitalize if you give them an opportunity.”
After that, the game changed. Texas threatened countless times in the last 10 minutes of regulation, while USC appeared lifeless. The Women of Troy recorded just one shot the rest of the game to the Longhorn’s five. If there was going to be a winner, it was going to be Texas.
“You can’t really put emotions into words after a game like this,” senior midfielder Ashli Sandoval said. “It’s just unexplainable.”
USC’s game on Friday was similarly disappointing, outplaying No. 4 Oklahoma State but falling 1-0.
“I don’t even know what to say,” senior midfielder Carly Butcher said. “We’re keeping the ball. We just didn’t put it in. And we can’t let down and let them get one, because it’s hard to come back.”
Khosroshahin expressed similar frustration.
“I don’t know what to think,” he said. “I know we’re getting better. We just gotta finish our opportunities.”
Best wishes to the team as the journey to Portland this weekend.
Putting the two defenders back in the midfield could help but looking at the roster the team is made up of primarily midfielders anyway. We dominated, had a lot of shots, but the goals were inevitable based on what I saw of our backline. One spark plug who was putting in work defending, #11. The two defenders in the middle were nonchalant and lacked a sense of urgency. The other defender had nothing in the speed department and kept getting burned. Only one player commanded the midfield, #5. The rest of the midfield didn’t and hasn’t shown up yet. I say until they do put other players in. #16 came in, kept it simple, stayed on her feet, no flopping, falling or grabbing antics, played clean, kept going, ran down balls, didn’t give up and made a difference. Our goalkeeper had some great saves too. Come on SC we can’t lose another home game.
Another coach in over his head. He won a national title his first year with the previous coach’s players and even
though he makes the playoffs gets eliminated in the 1st or 2nd round yearly. He needs to take some lessons from
the water polo coach Jovan in recruiting.
Our women’s soccer team is in trouble and should not be. I watched Sunday’s game. They played well and it was their best game at home this season. It looks like they were in a 1-5-4. One forward? The other team started with two forwards then pushed up a third to create more scoring chances and it worked. Our team didn’t make the adjustment. Just stayed the same.
Put our top two scorers from last year back in the midfield where they belong and off of defense. It looks like the team is close to 30 girls and no one else can play defense? I have a player from the team in my class. She’s always enthusiastic, promoting the team and encouraging students to come out and support them. The coach needs to start cutting the dead weight on the team and give their scholarships to people who want to do the work.