Shutouts keep on coming

The No. 14 USC women’s soccer team didn’t miss a beat this weekend as it continued its winning streak by shutting out Arizona and Arizona State to kick off its Pac-10 campaign.

The Women of Troy (10-3, 2-0) stretched their winning streak to nine games after beating Arizona 2-0 Sunday and Arizona State 1-0 Friday. With the shutouts, senior goalkeeper Kristin Olsen notched her name in the record book and became USC’s all-time leader in shutouts with 26.

“I’m pretty happy. I didn’t really take it as a big thing — it just kind of happened. But it’s cool,” Olsen said.

Olsen and the defense have been dominant lately, holding their opponents to just three goals in the past nine games. They stifled the Wildcats’ attack Sunday as Arizona never really threatened to score and forced Olsen into making just two saves.

“[Olsen’s] a better organizer than she’s ever been. She’s not getting as many saves but she’s positioning her team in front of her better to prevent good looks from the opposition,” USC coach Ali Khosroshahin said.

USC got on the board relatively early Sunday, scoring both goals within three minutes of each other in the first half. Before Sunday, the Women of Troy had scored 10 goals in their last four games, but only one of those goals came in the first half.

In the 30th minute, junior midfielder Megan Ohai sent a cross pass to the back post that super-sub Alyssa Dávila, who just entered the game, got a toe on to put in for her team leading sixth goal of the season.

Less than three minutes later, the Women of Troy got on the end of another cross, this time from sophomore midfielder Brittany Kerridge, as freshman forward Samantha Johnson headed the ball into the back of the net for her fourth goal of the year.

“We scored two high quality goals today as the buildup and finish was really good,” Khosroshahin said. “I thought this was one of our better performances of the year.”

The Women of Troy were challenged a little more by Arizona State Friday. In a game that was largely played in the midfield, USC got a counterattack goal from Ohai in the 57th minute and held firm in the backline to earn the victory.

But it wasn’t easy. The Sun Devils frustrated USC’s attack as they condensed play in the middle of the field and gave USC no space to move the ball. The Women of Troy found it difficult to string many passes together, and in the flow of the game, it made sense their goal came off a counter attack.

Sophomore midfielder Ashley Freyer gathered a long pass and touched it ahead to Ohai, who used her body to shield the ball from her defender. Once she turned, it was just her and the goalkeeper who she beat with a shot to the back post.

“I felt her on the inside of me and I tried to turn to the outside and hit it back post,” Ohai said.

Back-post finishing was something USC worked on all week in practice and Khosroshahin was glad to see it paid off.

“I told her after the game that when she made her first touch I was hoping she put it to the back post and she made a great finish,” Khosroshahin said.

Arizona State pressured the Women of Troy after the goal, but the defense held firm and repelled every attack the Sun Devils mounted.

“Everyone was tired. We just tried to clear the ball away, but there were definitely dangerous situations. We had to do well to manage the game and go to the corners,” Olsen said.

Olsen preserved the win in the last two minutes by making a diving save off a header from a Sun Devils’ free kick.

“I just kept an eye on the ball and was able to see around all the defenders and players and when I caught it I just prayed I held onto it,” Olsen said.