University Southern California Trojans
Women's Soccer Opens Season on Sunday
August 25, 1999 | Women's Soccer
Aug. 25, 1999
LOS ANGELES - Coming off its best season ever, the No. 24 USC women's soccer team (0-0), under coach Jim Millinder and led by two-time All-Americans Kim Clark and Isabelle Harvey, opens the 1999 regular season this weekend. The Women of Troy host UC Irvine (0-0) on Sunday (Aug. 29) at 1 p.m. at the Coliseum.
NEWS & NOTES - USC appears in just one national preseason poll and is No. 24 in the NSCAA rankings ... The Women of Troy play perhaps the toughest schedule in the country, including matches against defending NCAA champion Florida and 15-time national champion North Carolina, as well as eight other teams that made the 1998 NCAA Tournament ... Three USC players participated in the 1999 Women's World Cup: junior midfielder Isabelle Harvey (Canada), junior defender Susie Mora (Mexico) and junior midfielder Barbara Almaraz (Mexico).
OPPONENT - UC Irvine (0-0) went 14-3-3 in 1998 and placed second in the Big West Conference with a mark of 7-1-1. The Anteaters lost their four leading scorers but added 13 freshmen. Their top returning scorer is junior forward Katie Sheppard, who had five points last season. USC is 3-1-1 all-time against UC Irvine and has won three in a row, including a 3-0 victory in Irvine last season.
LINEUP - USC returns six of 11 starters, though five other players have started at least four matches in their careers. The Women of Troy have only two seniors - midfielder Kim Clark (Cupertino/Monta Vista HS) and defender Christina Kushnir (San Diego/The Bishop's) - and both will start. At least two freshmen are expected to start, most likely Jackie Fodor (Winnetka/Chatsworth HS) at forward and Ali Fennell (Santa Ana/Mater Dei HS) at midfielder.
EXHIBITIONS - Junior midfielder Isabelle Harvey scored a goal in the 71st minute to help USC tie Loyola Marymount, 1-1, on Tuesday (Aug. 24). The Women of Troy, who outshot the Lions, 13-7, had fallen behind in the 55th minute ... Freshman forward Jennifer Prigmore scored two goals and freshman forward Jackie Fodor added one as USC beat an understaffed alumni team, 3-0, on Sunday (Aug. 22). The Women of Troy had a 36-4 shot advantage.
KIM CLARK - One of the top players in the nation, senior midfielder/forward Kim Clark (Cupertino/Monta Vista HS) is a two-time All-American third teamer who ranks first in USC history in assists (27), second in points (85) and tied for second in goals (29). The catalyst for USC's offense, Clark starts at attacking midfielder. Clark suffered a broken leg in a match against UCLA last season and missed the final four matches of the season, including USC's postseason run. She finished with 10 goals and six assists in 1998.
ISABELLE HARVEY - Junior midfielder/forward Isabelle Harvey (Cap-Rouge, Quebec, Canada) is coming off an outstanding performance in the 1999 Women's World Cup for Canada and is also one of the nation's top players. A two-time All-American and the 1998 Pac-10 Co-Player of the Year, Harvey ranks first in game-winning goals (14), second in assists (24), tied for second in goals (29) and third in points (82) in USC history. Harvey starts at wide midfielder but will also be pushed up to forward. She had eight goals and a Pac-10-high 12 assists in 1998.
HEAD COACH JIM MILLINDER - Now in his fourth season as USC's head coach, Jim Millinder has put USC on the verge of becoming a national power. He has a three-year record of 45-15-2 (.742) with USC and a five-year overall mark of 53-42-6 (.554). A former U.S. National Team member, Millinder was named the 1997 West Region Coach of the Year and the 1996 and 1998 Pac-10 Coach of the Year.
LAST SEASON - In 1998, the Women of Troy went 14-7-1 overall, earned their first-ever Pacific-10 Conference championship (tying for first at 7-2 with California and UCLA but beating both to win the tiebreaker) and made it to their first-ever NCAA Tournament (where they beat Washington in the first round but lost to San Diego State in the second).
