University Southern California Trojans
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USC Women's Soccer 2019 Season Preview
August 15, 2019 | Women's Soccer, Features
LOS ANGELES – The USC women's soccer team gets its first taste of game action this Saturday at home against Pepperdine, before opening the 2019 season on the road at Hawaii on August 22.
With the season around the corner, we sat down with sixth-year head coach Keidane McAlpine to take a look at the 2019 Trojans.
Collins, who in addition to her 2018 Pac-12 honors was named to this season's MAC Hermann Trophy watch list, returns for her redshirt-junior season. She led the Trojans to a total of 15 shutouts last year, picking up 10 solo-shutouts on the season for the fourth-best single season total in program history. Collins had the ninth-best goals against average (0.506) in the country last year, en route to earning All-American second team honors. Smith played in a total of two games in 2018 for a total of 35 minutes, making two saves without allowing a goal. The Washington native came to USC after a decorated prep and club career prior to the 2018 season.
The Trojans enter the season with two keepers on the roster for the first time under coach McAlpine. Collins is the first returning Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Year the Trojans have gone into a season with.
Plumptre and Bingham are the two senior anchors on the backline, with Plumptre expected to move inside to the centerback role vacated by graduated All-American Ally Prisock and Bingham expected to remain on the outside in her dual-threat role. Plumptre, who has also spent a good deal of time in the midfield for USC, played in 20 games last year and scored two goals to go along with one assist. Bingham made 21 starts last year and finished sixth on the team with four assists.
Haidet, who started all 22 games as a sophomore in 2018 next to Prisock, will remain at centerback, with the other outside back spot up for competition. Soto, who played a total of 16 games and posted two assists during her freshman season, will enter the season as the frontrunner for the other outside back position. Martin, a redshirt-freshman out of Aliso Viejo, will see her first collegiate action this season.
Ward is a graduate transfer from Notre Dame who was part of the Irish's 2016 ACC Championship squad. She appeared in 34 games during her career at Notre Dame before sitting out her senior year with an injury. Babalolo, Kessler, Bishop and Enus are all decorated prep athletes who were part of the Trojans' third-ranked recruiting class this season.
"We've got a really good, veteran group returning in the midfield," said McAlpine. "Jalen Woodward, our defensive stalwart, will captain this group and sit in that holding midfield position as our backbone. Alea Hyatt returns after playing a lot of minutes last year, she gives us great experience. Natalie Jacobs returns as well and will be transitioning into a midfield role after playing up top last year. That will allow us to use both her defensive and offensive skills, and gives us another veteran in the midfield. Then we have Arlie Jones stepping in and we expect big things from her this year after a great offseason. Madeline Vergura returns as well for us and we expect her to share minutes with Jalen in that holding mid spot. And we have some youngsters to add to this group. Savianna Gomez is very skilled on the ball and great in isolation. Jaelyn Eisenhart has had an excellent fall camp and we expect her to give us great minutes as a very consistent and intellectual player. Olufolasade Adamolekun gives us another attacking personality in the midfield. She's very creative and an excellent passer of the ball."
Woodward returns for her senior season after helping to lead the Trojans' defensive charge to 15 shutouts last year while also scoring once and dishing out four assists. Hyatt, who transferred to Troy prior to the 2018 season, returns for her junior year after appearing in 21 games, scoring twice and posting five assists. Jacobs, also a transfer who came in last year, was fifth on the team with five goals and also had two assists. In addition to her time as a forward, Jacobs has experience as a defender for several U.S. Youth National Teams, including being named to the 2016 CONCACAF Best XI Team as a central defender with the U-20's during World Cup qualifying.
Through her first two years with the Trojans, Jones has seen time in 30 total games, mainly as a reserve, on her way to one goal and two assists, but is expected to play an even bigger role this season. Vergura, a returning sophomore, played in 18 games and notched three assists last year. She is also expected to see an increased role this season.
Gomez, Eisenhart and Adamolekun all come in as highly-touted members of the Trojans' recruiting class, with Adamolekun most notably coming off of a World Cup Appearance with Jamaica this summer. Eisenhart and Gomez have both been members of numerous U.S. Youth National Teams. All three were in the Top Drawer Soccer Top 150 recruit rankings, with Adamolekun checking in at No. 22, Eisenhart at No. 25 and Gomez at No. 116.
Hocking was a revelation in her rookie season last year, earning Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors after leading the league with 14 goals scored and the Trojans with 34 total points. McKeown, who has seen time as a defender and midfielder already during her career, will be moving up to her natural position on the frontline where she will team up with her U-20 USWNT teammate Hocking in the starting lineup. McKeown is coming off a season in which she scored six goals and had seven assists on her way to All-Pac-12 honors. She has 10 goals and 12 assists for her career.
McMorrow brings some versatility and energy off the bench to both the frontline and midfield, not to mention the 44 games of experience under the senior's belt. Bruder's physical game gives USC a change of pace up top as the redshirt-junior scored twice as a reserve last year.
White, the 46th-ranked player in the 2019 class, comes into her collegiate career after putting up staggering goal totals in both club and prep soccer. Slater, also a leading scorer at the club and prep level, adds her excellent 1v1 skills to the Trojans' depth chart.
With the season around the corner, we sat down with sixth-year head coach Keidane McAlpine to take a look at the 2019 Trojans.
GOALKEEPERS
"With the return of Kaylie Collins, the Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Year, we feel very comfortable with the position," said McAlpine. "We're excited with Kaylie's growth over this offseason and her leadership at the position. We're also excited about Anna Smith and her growth as she now steps into that backup role full-time. We were able to get Anna some minutes last year and now she's ready to step in and push Kaylie for the job."Collins, who in addition to her 2018 Pac-12 honors was named to this season's MAC Hermann Trophy watch list, returns for her redshirt-junior season. She led the Trojans to a total of 15 shutouts last year, picking up 10 solo-shutouts on the season for the fourth-best single season total in program history. Collins had the ninth-best goals against average (0.506) in the country last year, en route to earning All-American second team honors. Smith played in a total of two games in 2018 for a total of 35 minutes, making two saves without allowing a goal. The Washington native came to USC after a decorated prep and club career prior to the 2018 season.
The Trojans enter the season with two keepers on the roster for the first time under coach McAlpine. Collins is the first returning Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Year the Trojans have gone into a season with.
DEFENDERS
"We're very fortunate that we have Ashleigh Plumptre, Jessica Haidet and Julia Bingham all returning from a terrific starting line last year," said McAlpine. "Ashley Soto played some good minutes for us last year and comes back after an excellent offseason, and Kaylin Martin, who redshirted last season and has shown some great growth, will provide us with good centerback depth. Then we also bring in a fantastic group of newcomers, with Natalie Ward transferring in with a wealth of experience, and freshmen Lily Babalola, Savannah Kessler, Katharine Bishop and Kennedy Enus as our defenders of the future and excellent depth for us this season."Plumptre and Bingham are the two senior anchors on the backline, with Plumptre expected to move inside to the centerback role vacated by graduated All-American Ally Prisock and Bingham expected to remain on the outside in her dual-threat role. Plumptre, who has also spent a good deal of time in the midfield for USC, played in 20 games last year and scored two goals to go along with one assist. Bingham made 21 starts last year and finished sixth on the team with four assists.
Haidet, who started all 22 games as a sophomore in 2018 next to Prisock, will remain at centerback, with the other outside back spot up for competition. Soto, who played a total of 16 games and posted two assists during her freshman season, will enter the season as the frontrunner for the other outside back position. Martin, a redshirt-freshman out of Aliso Viejo, will see her first collegiate action this season.
Ward is a graduate transfer from Notre Dame who was part of the Irish's 2016 ACC Championship squad. She appeared in 34 games during her career at Notre Dame before sitting out her senior year with an injury. Babalolo, Kessler, Bishop and Enus are all decorated prep athletes who were part of the Trojans' third-ranked recruiting class this season.
MIDFIELD
"We've got a really good, veteran group returning in the midfield," said McAlpine. "Jalen Woodward, our defensive stalwart, will captain this group and sit in that holding midfield position as our backbone. Alea Hyatt returns after playing a lot of minutes last year, she gives us great experience. Natalie Jacobs returns as well and will be transitioning into a midfield role after playing up top last year. That will allow us to use both her defensive and offensive skills, and gives us another veteran in the midfield. Then we have Arlie Jones stepping in and we expect big things from her this year after a great offseason. Madeline Vergura returns as well for us and we expect her to share minutes with Jalen in that holding mid spot. And we have some youngsters to add to this group. Savianna Gomez is very skilled on the ball and great in isolation. Jaelyn Eisenhart has had an excellent fall camp and we expect her to give us great minutes as a very consistent and intellectual player. Olufolasade Adamolekun gives us another attacking personality in the midfield. She's very creative and an excellent passer of the ball."
Woodward returns for her senior season after helping to lead the Trojans' defensive charge to 15 shutouts last year while also scoring once and dishing out four assists. Hyatt, who transferred to Troy prior to the 2018 season, returns for her junior year after appearing in 21 games, scoring twice and posting five assists. Jacobs, also a transfer who came in last year, was fifth on the team with five goals and also had two assists. In addition to her time as a forward, Jacobs has experience as a defender for several U.S. Youth National Teams, including being named to the 2016 CONCACAF Best XI Team as a central defender with the U-20's during World Cup qualifying.
Through her first two years with the Trojans, Jones has seen time in 30 total games, mainly as a reserve, on her way to one goal and two assists, but is expected to play an even bigger role this season. Vergura, a returning sophomore, played in 18 games and notched three assists last year. She is also expected to see an increased role this season.
Gomez, Eisenhart and Adamolekun all come in as highly-touted members of the Trojans' recruiting class, with Adamolekun most notably coming off of a World Cup Appearance with Jamaica this summer. Eisenhart and Gomez have both been members of numerous U.S. Youth National Teams. All three were in the Top Drawer Soccer Top 150 recruit rankings, with Adamolekun checking in at No. 22, Eisenhart at No. 25 and Gomez at No. 116.
FORWARDS
"Penelope Hocking returns to lead our frontline after being our leading scorer last year," said McAlpine, "but we really have a wealth of experience with Tara McKeown sliding up top to fill the spot left by Leah Pruitt. She's another explosive weapon up there for us. Then we have two great upperclassmen in Taylor McMorrow and Samantha Bruder, who give us experience, depth and understanding. Taylor will likely play out of the midfield as well. And then we have the freshmen. Hannah White is another great forward who brings a wealth of talent and a great goal-scoring track record, and Lily Slater is an athletic and skilled option for us up top."Hocking was a revelation in her rookie season last year, earning Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors after leading the league with 14 goals scored and the Trojans with 34 total points. McKeown, who has seen time as a defender and midfielder already during her career, will be moving up to her natural position on the frontline where she will team up with her U-20 USWNT teammate Hocking in the starting lineup. McKeown is coming off a season in which she scored six goals and had seven assists on her way to All-Pac-12 honors. She has 10 goals and 12 assists for her career.
McMorrow brings some versatility and energy off the bench to both the frontline and midfield, not to mention the 44 games of experience under the senior's belt. Bruder's physical game gives USC a change of pace up top as the redshirt-junior scored twice as a reserve last year.
White, the 46th-ranked player in the 2019 class, comes into her collegiate career after putting up staggering goal totals in both club and prep soccer. Slater, also a leading scorer at the club and prep level, adds her excellent 1v1 skills to the Trojans' depth chart.
INJURED LIST
Notably missing from the 2019 preview are several names currently out with injury. Atop that list is All-American Savannah DeMelo, who will likely miss the season with an Achilles injury. Senior returner Daria Petredes is out with an injury and does not have a timetable for her return. Top recruit Croix Bethune is likely to miss the season after tearing her ACL and fellow incoming freshman Isabel Rolley will also most likely miss the season with an ankle injury.OTHER NOTES
- The Trojans come in as the No. 5 team in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll and were selected to finish third in the preseason Pac-12 Coaches Poll.
- USC welcomed the No. 3 recruiting class in the country this offseason, giving the Trojans back-to-back years with Top 5 classes.
- The Trojans traveled to England and France this offseason, attending three World Cup Games on the trip.
- USC will once again face one of the toughest schedules in the country this year as the Trojans face a total of four teams that have national titles, including Florida State and Stanford, which have both won twice, and Florida and UCLA, which have single titles to their names. Seven of the Trojans' opponents made it to last year's NCAA Tournament and six of those seven won at least one game in the postseason.
- The Trojans will host a marquee doubleheader at Banc of California Stadium (home of LAFC) on August 29. UCLA will take on Florida State in the opener and then the Trojans will face Florida.
- USC opens the year on the road with a pair of games at Hawaii next week.
- The Trojans are coming off of a 17-2-3 season in which they finished third in the Pac-12 and made it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. USC fell in the postseason to eventual national champions Florida State on the road in PK's.
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