No. 3 Trojans Host Long Beach State for Senior Day

THIS WEEK - The No. 3 USC women's soccer team closes out non-conference play this week, hosting Long Beach State on Friday for a 1 pm game. The Trojans will also celebrate their five graduating seniors before the game.

GAME 8 - No. 3 USC (6-0-1) vs. Long Beach State (4-3) - Sept. 14, 1 p.m. (McAlister Field)

HOW TO FOLLOW - Friday's game will be televised on the Pac-12 Network. Links to the broadcast and live stats will be available on the USC soccer schedule page at USCTrojans.com. Fans can also follow @USC_Wsoccer on Twitter for in-game updates all season long.

SOCIAL MEDIA - Keep up with everything USC soccer this year by following the Trojans on all of their social media platforms. You can follow @USCWsoccer on Instagram and @USC_Wsoccer on Twitter, and like USC Women's Soccer on Facebook.

SENIOR DAY - USC will celebrate its five graduating seniors before Friday's game, honoring Ally Prisock, Leah Pruitt, Hailey Hite, Jessie Holmes and Megan McCashland during their final collegiate seasons.

LAST WEEK - The Trojans stayed unbeaten with a 2-0 week, beating Missouri 2-0 on Friday and then San Diego 3-2 on Sunday. USC faced its first deficit of the season against the Toreros, falling behind twice in the game, but came back each time and got the game winning goal from Leah Pruitt in the 48th minute.

HOT START - USC is off to one of its best starts in program history, with its 20-3 goal differential the best through seven games of any Trojan team and its 6-0-1 record the best through seven games as well. The Trojans' 20 goals scored are the most since 2008 through seven games.

IN THE POLLS - USC has moved up in each poll this season after starting the year at No. 12 in the Preseason United Soccer Coaches Poll. The Trojans are up to No. 3 in the latest coaches poll and No. 5 in the Top Drawer Soccer rankings.

SCOUTING LONG BEACH STATE - The 49ers come in 4-3 on the season off a 6-0 win over St. John's at home ... LBSU went 9-6-3 last year and finished fifth in the Big West with a 3-3-2 conference record ... The 49ers were picked to finish second in the Big West Preseason Poll.

WEEKLY HONORS

Kaylie Collins - Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Week (Aug. 27-Sept. 2) - 2 shutouts, 200 scoreless mins, 6 saves (T 0-0 at #4 Florida State, W 3-0 at #22 Florida)
Ally Prisock - Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week (Aug. 27-Sept. 2) - central defender for 200 scoreless minutes and 2 shutouts (T 0-0 at #4 Florida State, W 3-0 at #22 Florida)
Savannah DeMelo - Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week (Aug. 20-26) - 2 goals, 3 assists (W 6-1 vs. Cal Poly, W 5-0 at Pepperdine)

DEMELO FILE

Savannah DeMelo currently leads the Trojans with 13 points on the season (4 goals, 5 assists) and is 2nd in the Pac-12.
Her 5 assists are tied for the 8th most in the country and her 0.83 assists per game are tied for 7th.
Her 2.17 points per game are 11th in the NCAA and her 13 total points are 26th.
Four goals matches her career high from last year.
Has multiple points in four of the six games she has played, including a career-best 5 points against Pepperdine. Two goals against Pepperdine matched a career high.

PRUITT FILE

Leah Pruitt is tied for the team lead with 4 goals and is second on the squad with 11 points.
Pruitt's team-leading 3 game-winning goals are tied for 5th in the NCAA and 1st in the conference.
Posted career-high 5 points against Cal Poly, matching a career high with 2 goals in the game.
Has at least a point in 5 of the Trojans' 7 games.

PRISOCK FILE

Ally Prisock has started every game for the Trojans since coming to Troy in 2015, a total of 75 so far.
Has played every minute as a central defender for the Trojans this season, leading USC to 5 shutouts.
Notched her third career assist against San Diego, setting up the game-tying goal.

COLLINS FILE

Kaylie Collins has started every game in goal for the Trojans so far this season.
Her 4 shutouts are 15th in the NCAA and 2nd in the Pac-12.
0.46 goals against average is 4th in the Pac-12.
Has 11 career solo-shutouts.

INDIVIDUAL QUICK HITS

Freshman Penelope Hocking's 4 goals are tied for the team lead and 3rd in the Pac-12, while her 9 points are tied for 8th in the conference.
Tara McKeown's 3 assists aretied for 8th in the Pac-12 and her 0.50 apg are tied for 10th.
Transfer Natalie Jacobs scored a goal in her Trojan debut against UC Irvine on her birthday (Aug. 16).

TEAM QUICK HITS

The Trojans' .929 winning percentage is 10th in the NCAA.
USC's 19 assists are 10th in the country and 2.71 assists per game are 11th.
The Trojans' 8.43 points per game are 13th in the NCAA.
USC's 2.86 goals per game are 15th in the country and 20 total goals are 16th (2nd in the Pac-12).
The Trojans' .714 shutout percentage is 13th in the NCAA (tied for 1st in the Pac-12) and .415 goals against average is 18th.

LAST YEAR - The Trojans are coming off a 15-3-2 season in which they made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to Baylor in penalty kicks. USC finished tied for second in the Pac-12 after losing only to UCLA and Stanford, and drawing with Utah, during conference play. The Trojans hosted Eastern Washington in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, advancing with a 2-1 win.

2018 ROSTER AT-A-GLANCE - USC brings back a pair of All Pac-12 first-teamers in senior Ally Prisock and sophomore Savannah DeMelo, along with All Pac-12 second team honoree Leah Pruitt. DeMelo was also named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team along with fellow returners Tara McKeown and Kaylie Collins. The Trojans added the second-ranked recruiting class in the nation this offseason and bring in four highly-experienced transfers as well in Natalie Jacobs (Notre Dame), Megan McCashland (Notre Dame), Alea Hyatt (North Carolina) and Jessie Holmes (Florida).

ROSTER BREAKDOWN

Returners: 16 / Newcomers: 11 (4 Transfers, 7 Freshmen) / Players lost: 11
By class - GRAD: 2 / SR: 3 / JR: 5 (1 RS) / SO: 9 (3 RS) / FR: 8 (1 RS)
By position - GK: 4 / DEF: 10 / MF: 9 / FWD: 7 (3 players listed at multiple positions)
By home state - CA: 19 / WA: 2 / NV, MA, CO, NE, GA: 1 / England: 1

PRESEASON HONORS - Several Trojans garnered preseason recognition heading into the 2018 season, most notably Ally Prisock and Savannah DeMelo, who were named to the MAC Hermann Trophy watch list. Prisock and Natalie Jacobs were also named to Top Drawer Soccer's Preseason Best XI second and third teams respectively.

PAC-12 PRESEASON POLL - Stanford and UCLA again came in at No. 1 and 2 in the Pac-12 Preseason Poll after playing in last year's title game. The Trojans were picked third with a total of 98 points in the poll. Stanford had 121 points and 11 first-place votes, while UCLA had 109 points and one first-place vote. Coming in behind USC was California with 90 points and then Colorado rounded out the top five with 74 points.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE - The Preseason Top 25 was littered with Trojan opponents this season, with three conference opponents and three non-conference opponents ranked coming into the season. Pac-12 teams Stanford (No. 1), UCLA (No. 2) and Washington State (No. 21) were all ranked, along with the three receiving votes (Cal, Colorado and Arizona). Also in the preseason rankings were No. 7 Florida, No. 10 Florida State and No. 18 Pepperdine.

U-20 WORLD CUP - Four Trojans played for their U-20 National Teams at the U-20 World Cup this summer, with Savannah DeMelo, Tara McKeown and Penelope Hocking representing the U.S., and Ashley Soto playing for Mexico. DeMelo scored four times in three starts for the U.S., including a hat trick against Paraguay. McKeown got one start against Paraguay and Hocking appeared as a sub against Paraguay and Spain. Soto started all three games on the backline for Mexico.

TROJANS IN THE PROS - Trojan alums currently playing in the NWSL include Morgan Andrews (Seattle Reign), Sammy Jo Prudhomme (Houston Dash), Mandy Freeman, Katie Johnson (Sky Blue FC), Elizabeth Eddy (NC Courage), Samantha Johnson and Amy Rodriguez (Utah Royals FC). Several other Trojans are playing overseas professionally, Savannah Levin with Ko in Sweden, Alex Quincey with Medkila in Norway and Nicole Molen with MTK Hungary.

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Players Mentioned

Kaylie Collins

Savannah DeMelo

Hailey Hite

Penelope Hocking

Jessie Holmes

Alea Hyatt

Natalie Jacobs

Megan McCashland

Tara McKeown

Nicole Molen

Ally Prisock

Leah Pruitt

Ashley Soto