University Southern California Trojans
Trojans Head Out on the Road, Visit the Washington Schools
September 30, 2015 | Women's Soccer
THIS WEEK The Trojans (6-3-1) travel to Washington State for a rare Thursday night tilt at 7 p.m., before heading to Washington for a 4:30 p.m. PT contest on Sunday. The Washington game will be televised live on the Pac-12 Networks.
SCOUTING WASHINGTON The Trojans are 12-7-2 all-time against the Huskies. Last season, the Trojans defeated the Huskies in Seattle, 2-1.
FINDING THE BACK OF THE NET The Trojans are looking to find the back of the net more consistently, as the high-powered offense scored 42 goals over 21 games last season, but only 13 over 10 games on the year. Two true freshmen, Hailey Hite and Mckenzie Taylor each have one goal, game winners vs. Texas Tech and UC Riverside, respectively. Sydney Johnson leads the team with four goals, while Morgan Andrews got on the scoresheet with two penalty kick goals vs. Pacific. Jamie Fink tallied her first goal of the year vs. Saint Mary's, while Mandy Freeman scored her first career goal vs. the Gaels. Nicole Molen scored her first goal of the year vs. Oregon State.
LAST WEEK VS. OREGON STATE The Trojans won their season opener vs. Oregon State last Saturday. The Trojans got goals from Sydney Johnson (her team high fourth goal of the year). Nicole Molen also netted her first goal of the year in the 59th minute, which proved to be the game-winner, after the Beavers found the back of the net in the 85th minute.
FREEMAN OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK Freeman had a foot in each of the Trojans' goals that came in the run of play last weekend as she earned her first Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week honors. First, in USC's 3-1 victory of Pacific, Freeman assisted on the team's first goal of the game, setting up Sydney Johnson for her third goal of the year. The other two goals came from the penalty spot. Then against Saint Mary's on Sunday, Freeman assisted on the Trojans' first goal of the game and then netted her own in the 67th minute, scoring on a long-distance shot from 20 yards out for her first career strike.
MILLS DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK Kayla Mills played a key part in both the defense and the attack for the Trojans last weekend. The junior's first goal of the season in the 82nd minute was the game-winning goal in the Trojans home opener against San Diego where the Trojans won, 2-1. On the weekend, Mills and her teammates only allowed one goal in 200 minutes of action, including a shutout against then-No. 23 Long Beach State. It is her first time winning a Pac-12 Player of the Week accolade.
ALL TOURNEY HONORS Morgan Andrews and Kayla Mills were named to the All-Tournament Team at the Duke Nike Classic. RANDLE DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK Dominique Randle led a staunch Trojan defense that held two top-15 teams scoreless for 172 minutes at the NM Lobos Invitational, Aug. 21-23. The Trojans, who went 1-1 on the weekend, shut out then-No. 13 Texas Tech, allowing them only six shots in the match and shored up the defense even tighter in the second half, not allowing a corner kick to the dangerous Red Raiders to go on and win their first match of the season, 1-0. Then against the reigning national champions and current No. 1 Florida State, Randle and her defense held the Seminoles scoreless for 82 minutes, thwarting multiple attacks. The Seminoles were only allowed nine shots and just four on goal through 90 minutes. They finally broke through in the 83rd minute with the eventual game-winning goal, but that was the only goal Randle and the Trojans gave up through two tough matches. This was Randle's first career Defensive Player of the Week nod. She was also named to the College Soccer 360 Primetime Players of the Week.
ONE MOMENT ONE NOW The Trojans' theme this year is "One Moment, One Now." Coach McAlpine is encouraging the team to have the mindset of focusing on one game at a time, staying within the moment and focusing on the task at hand. Also written as the #1M1N, "I'm In," it reminds all the student-athletes to buy in and be a part of the mentality.
THIS YEAR'S MIX Consistency is key to this year's group, which returns nine starters from last season and adds strong reinforcements in college transfers Sammy Jo Prudhomme, Morgan Andrews and Amanda Rooney. Six true freshmen also join the fold of 20 returners, led by impact defender Ally Prisock.
IN GOAL Trojan fans will see a new goalkeeper in 2015, as three-year starter Caroline Stanley graduated and is currently competing for the Seattle Reign of the National Women's Soccer League. Fortunately, the Trojans have a good one waiting in the wings, as redshirt junior Sammy Jo Prudhomme has patiently sat out the last season after transferring within conference from Oregon State last year. Prudomme, a Pac-12 All-Freshman team honoree in 2012 made 188 saves for the Beavers in just two seasons. Senior Faith Sugerman and sophomore Julia Murphy round out the goalkeeping core and the group has had competitive sessions all camp.
TUNE IN TO THE TROJANS USC's 2015 schedule features eight televised games for the Women of Troy. The team will play four games at home and four on the road on the Pac-12 Networks.
PRESEASON ACCOLADES Junior defender Kayla Mills was named the No. 15 player nationally by TopDrawerSoccer, while transfer midfielder Morgan Andrews was named the 40th-best.
AROD A WORLD CUP CHAMPION USC's Amy Rodriguez started collecting championship hardware as a Trojan, her winning efforts spanning the 2007 NCAA Championship with USC before stepping onto the Olympic gold-medal podium in Beijing and London with Team USA. She also won the NWSL title in 2014. Now, Rodriguez and her fellow U.S. National Team members have given the U.S. its third star, as the team won the 2015 World Cup in Vancouver, Can. Rodriguez made her first start in the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup against China in the quarterfinals after seeing her first 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup action against Sweden on June 12, 2015.
SUCCESS IN THE CLASSROOM A program record number of USC women's soccer players earned Pac-12 All-Academic honors in 2014. The Trojans had one player earn placement on the Pac-12 All-Academic Second Team, while 11 others earned honorable mention. The program's 12 selections tied just Washington for the most out of any team in the conference. Moriah Earley led the group by receiving Pac-12 All-Academic Second Team honors. 2014 senior Jessica Musmanno earned her third All-Academic Honorable Mention, while senior Alex Quincey and then-juniors Megan Borman, Jamie Fink, Katie Johnson, Erin Owen and Whitney Pitalo became two-time honorees as Honorable Mentions. Then-juniors Natalie Donaldson and Tamara Mejia, and then-sophomores Savannah Levin and Kayla Mills were all recognized as Trojan academic standouts.
