Women’s soccer rallies for pair of weekend victories

This past week, the women’s soccer team tallied two wins — topping Loyola Marymount University and the University of San Diego. Both victories were in comeback fashion, which improved the Trojans’ overall record to 6-1.

On Friday, No. 12 USC began its three-game stretch against Loyola Marymount. The Lions entered the game with a 4-2-1 record. LMU has weathered a pair tough opponents this year, beating No. 17 Utah and drawing against No. 22 Northwestern. These two matchups helped prepare LMU for USC, but were not enough, as the Trojans topped the Lions 2-1 in a come-from-behind affair.

The first half of the match was scoreless on both sides. The Trojan defense once again allowed zero shots in the first half, while their offense tallied 10. USC had multiple scoring opportunities but was unable to find the back of the net. Six of USC’s recorded shots came from junior forward Leah Pruitt.

The second half had both USC and LMU fans biting their nails. The first goal of the match came in the 66th minute off a free kick from just inside the Trojans’ zone. The ball crossed over the Trojan box, and LMU redshirt junior midfielder Melissa Lewis finished the pass far post to give the Lions the lead.

That goal lit a fire under the Women of Troy. From that point on, the Trojans were back to playing the aggressive style that they had against Iowa State. Recording 15 shots in the second half, USC fought hard for the equalizer. However, the Lion defense played strong in the back field. It wasn’t until the 86th minute that the Women of Troy tied things up. At the top of the

18-yard box, Pruitt received the ball, dribbled past the LMU defender and placed a shot just within the near post to tie the score at 1-1.

But the Trojans weren’t satisfied with the tie. Just before the equalizer, junior defender Erika Okuma entered the game. And two minutes after the Trojans tied the score, Okuma received a square ball from senior midfielder Nicole Molen and rifled a perfect ball into the near-post top corner from 35 yards out. This marked Okuma’s first collegiate goal and gave the Trojans the 2-1 lead with just two minutes remaining.

“I have to give credit to Erika, even though she didn’t play very many minutes on the evening, she was able to come off the bench and do her job,” head coach Keidane McAlpine said. “Last weekend, we were not able to find that kind of production off the bench, and all the credit goes to her tonight. Coming out and being able to execute the way she did was fantastic.”

LMU had a few scoring opportunities in the final minutes, but the Trojan defense was able to hold off the Lions to secure the win.  

With a 5-1 record, the Women of Troy headed south on Sunday to face off against the University of San Diego in USC’s final non-conference matchup.

In just 18 seconds, the Toreros were already on the board. From the left side of the 18-yard box, junior forward Summer Mason delivered a shot to the top right corner of the USC goal to put San Diego up 1-0.

The Women of Troy quickly rebounded — generating scoring opportunities and capitalizing on them. In the 17th minute, Trojan redshirt senior forward Alex Anthony found the equalizer on a cross from redshirt junior midfielder Sydney Myers. Four minutes later, the Trojans added another one to the scoreboard. From the top of the box, freshman midfielder Savannah DeMelo released a bender into the top left corner on a pass from Anthony to make the score 2-1. The rest of the half was scoreless, and USC outshot USD 7-3.

The Trojans maintained the aggressive play style throughout the second half, something they have struggled with in recent games. Within the first five minutes, with an assist from freshman forward Tara McKeown, Anthony reached the back of the net for her second goal of the night. This extended the Trojans’ lead to 3-1 and marked the first time a Trojan has scored two goals in a single match this season.

With a comfortable two-goal lead, many Trojans saw playing time. Senior goalkeeper Julia Murphy made her first appearance this season. And junior forward Hailey Hite appeared in her first game this season after suffering an ACL tear last October.

With two victories this past week, the Women of Troy are on the upswing as they head into their first conference match against No. 25 Utah on Sept. 23.