USC
Washington
USC Shuts Out Washington 2-0
October 31, 2010 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 31, 2010
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. -- The USC women's soccer team rounded out an important winning weekend at home by capping off a 2-0 win over visiting Washington on Sunday afternoon at McAlister Field. The Trojans' final regular-season home game put their seniors on center stage, senior defender Karter Haug delivering assists on both USC goals in the match. The shutout win improves USC's overall record to 11-4-3 and takes the Trojans to a 4-2-1 Pac-10 mark. Washington goes to 11-7-1, 4-4.
The Women of Troy were strong in their possession during the game, while the USC back line kept dangerous Washington opportunities to a minimum. The Huskies' best chance of the day came late in the game on a free kick blasted by Lindsay Elston, but USC's Ashli Sandoval was there to meet it with a clutch header to stop the shot. The Trojans were holding a 1-0 lead at that point in the game -- thanks to Carly Butcher's first goal of the year, scored just before the close of the first half. Courtney Garcia had initiated the strike, taking a quick corner kick and pushing it to Karter Haug. Haug slipped the ball over to Butcher, who drove a low liner to the right side of the goal to take USC ahead 1-0 in the 44th minute of play.
The referee's whistle gave Washington several free kick opportunities in the second half, but goalkeeper Shelby Church and the Trojan defense were stubborn in their resolve to secure that shutout. After Sandoval's header put a stop to the Huskies' strike in the second half, the redshirt junior took her header skills to the other end of the field in the 80th minute of play. Haug lined up for the USC corner kick this time, and sailed the ball into the box for Sandoval, who knocked it into the left side of the net to put some padding on the Trojans' lead. Up 2-0 with 10 minutes ticking off the clock, the Women of Troy kept control to lock away USC's third straight win and sixth shutout of the year.
USC's final regular-season action comes next week with a Pac-10 finale trip through Arizona. The Trojans will first visit Aarizona State for a 7 p.m. MT match on Friday (Nov. 5) before going over to face Arizona in an 11 a.m. MT game on Sunday (Nov. 7) to wrap up the regular season and await the NCAA Tournament selections.
Sunday, Oct. 31 -- McAlister Field
#23 USC 2, Washington 0
USC 1 - 1 = 2
WASH 0 - 0 = 0
SCORING:
44:22 -- USC: Carly Butcher (Karter Haug, Courtney Garcia)
79:12 -- USC: Ashli Sandoval (Haug)
SAVES: Shelby Church (USC) 2, Team (USC) 1, Jorde Lafontaine-Kussman (WASH) 3.
SHOTS: USC 12, WASH 14
CORNER KICKS: USC 8, WASH 2
FOULS: USC 9, WASH 2
