USC Women's Soccer Hosts Wake Forest for Elite 8 Matchup

THIS WEEK - The No. 1-seeded USC women's soccer team plays in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament against No. 2-seeded Wake Forest on Friday at 2 p.m. With a win, the Trojans would advance to the College Cup in Cary, NC and play the winner of No. 4 seed Notre Dame and No. 3 seed Stanford. USC will host the Demon Deacons at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif.

HOW TO FOLLOW - Friday's match will be broadcasted live on ESPN+. Links for the broadcast and live stats can be found on the women's soccer schedule page at USCTrojans.com. In-game updates will also be available on X (formerly Twitter) by following @USC_Wsoccer.

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

ROUND 3 DOMINANCE - USC took down 5-seeded Wisconsin, 3-1, on Sunday to advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals. BK Harris got USC on the board in the first half by converting a PK in the 41st minute, and Helena Sampaio and Maile Hayes each scored in the second half. Wisconsin got a late goal in the 84th minute, but that was it for the Badgers. The Trojans held 60% possession and outshot the Badgers 6-3 in the game.

BACK AT DIGNITY - This week the Trojan's will return to Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson to host Wake Forest in the Quarterfinals. The Trojans hosted Sacramento State in Round 1 at Dignity, before hosting rounds 2 and 3 at Great Park in Irvine. The Trojans have had four different home venues this season as construction continues on Rawlinson Stadium, the program's $38 million on-campus venue. USC played the bulk of its games at the Dignity Health Sports Park Track Stadium, and also hosted Ohio State at BMO Stadium and UCLA at the Dignity Health Sports Park Main Stadium.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. WAKE - The Trojans and Demon Deacons have played once before, in a non-conference matchup in 2002, with Wake Forest winning 2-1 in Winston-Salem. In that match, both programs were ranked, Wake Forest at No. 13, and USC at No. 21. This year the Demon Deacons defeated Morehead State, Colorado, and [3] Ohio State to advance to the Quarterfinals.

HISTORY IN THE MAKING - This season for the Trojans has been an historic one already. The Trojans' 18 wins is the most for the program since 2016, when the National Champion Trojans racked up 19 victories. The Trojans are currently on a program-record 16-game unbeaten streak, dating back to early September. This Friday will be the Trojans first Quarterfinal appearance since 2019, and the 4th in program history. It is the second time in program history hosting a Quarterfinal match, with the other match coming in 2016. USC's No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and outright conference title were also firsts for the program this season.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE - The Trojans played one of the most challenging schedules in the country, with ten of USC's opponents making this year's NCAA Tournament (CBU, Pepperdine, Stanford, Washington, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio State, Rutgers, Penn State and UCLA). Of that group, 8 of them received top 8 seeds, and five finished the year ranked in the Top 25 (No. 9 UCLA, No. 10 Ohio State, No. 14 Stanford, T-No. 22 Penn State and Pepperdine). 7 Big Ten programs made it to the round of 16 (USC, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State, Iowa, Michigan State), but only USC and Penn State survived into the Quarterfinals.

ROUND 2 THRILLER - USC won a thriller to advance to the Round of 16, taking down No. 8-seeded St. Louis, 4-3, in OT on a PK by Maile Hayes. The Trojans took the lead three times on the evening, only to see the Billikens tie it up three times. Hayes scored twice on the day, with her first goal coming in the 12th minute. Simone Jackson finished off a pass from Hayes to put USC up in the 62nd minute. Kayla Colbert scored in the 87th minute to regain the lead. After St. Louis forced OT, USC dominated possession and chances in the extra period, with Hayes getting taken down near the endline to draw a penalty. Her attempt from the penalty spot was a no-doubter as she buried it inside the left post.

ROUND 1 VICTORY - USC cruised past Sacramento State in round 1 of the NCAA Tournament, 5-0. Five different Trojans scored in the contest, with Brooklyn Courtnall (PK), Helena Sampaio and Simone Jackson scoring in the first half, and Maria Alagoa and Florianne Jourde scoring in the second half. It was the 11th shutout of the year for Laurence Gladu and the USC defense, as the Trojans held the visitors to four total shots. USC held 71% of the possession in the game and outshot the Hornets 20-4. The opening round five-goal victory was the largest postseason margin of victory for USC since 2021.

PLAYER/TEAM NOTES:

The Trojans come into the Quarterfinals undefeated in their last 16 matches (the Rutgers result is officially a draw). USC had a season best eight game winning streak before drawing against Rutgers. Dating back to last season, USC is unbeaten in its last 16 home matches (8-0-1 this year).
Maile Hayes leads the Trojans in points and goals with 27 points, 11 goals, and 5 assists. In the round 3 victory, Hayes scored to put the game away. She scored 2 goals, one of which was the game-winner, and added an assist in round 2 of the NCAA Tournament. This was her fifth career 2 goal game, and second of the year (Oregon). In the first round, Hayes had an assist. In the Big Ten Tournament against Ohio State, Hayes had an assist on the game-winning goal in overtime. In the regular season finale, she scored the game-winning goal vs. UCLA leading her to be named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week. Her 2-goal game against Oregon led her to be named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week. She has 18 points in the last eleven games for the Trojans, and 8 points in the first 3 games of the NCAA Tournament. She was named to the All-Big Ten first team.
Helena Sampaio is second in points on the team with 17, and has 5 goals and a team leading 7 assists (also tied for a career high). In the NCAA Tournament, she scored a goal which turned out to be the game-winner in round 3, and had an assist in round 2. She added another score in round 1 against Sacramento State, where she scored on a free kick from 22 yards out. With a game-winning goal with 20 seconds remaining against Penn State, Sampaio was awarded with the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week. She added an assist in the Trojans win vs. UCLA a month ago. She was named Big Ten Midfielder of the Year, as well as All-Big Ten first team honors. She has 5 points so far through the first 3 rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
Maria Alagoa is third in points on the team having a personal single season high 16 points. Alagoa has 6 goals and 4 assists on the year with 12 points in the Trojans last twelve matches. The 6 goals are tied for her single season high. Alagoa added her most recent points coming in the second round of the NCAA Tournament with an assist on a USC goal. She added an impressive back heel flick goal against Sac St. in round 1. She was also named to the All-Big Ten second team.
Kayla Colbert is fourth in points for the Trojans, with 15 points. Colbert has 5 goals and 5 assists, with a goal and an assist in round 2 for the Trojans. Colbert also had an assist in the Trojans round 1 victory. She received All-Big Ten third team honors.
Senior Simone Jackson scored her fifth goal of the year in the Trojans round 2 win against Saint Louis. She also scored in round 1 against Sac St. Her third goal of the year came in the Big Ten Tournament against Rutgers, with her second goal of the year coming against Ohio State, that turned out to be the game winning goal. Jackson has scored in 3 of the last 4 games. Last season Jackson had an impressive Junior year and was 5th on the team with 10 total points (5 goals) while being named to the All-Pac-12 second team. She was named to the All-Big Ten third team this year.
Freshman Faith George has 9 points. George has 3 goals and 3 assists, scoring her third goal of the year against Illinois a month ago. She was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team.
Freshman Ines Derrien was recognized with the Big Ten Freshman of the Week award a month ago after scoring her first collegiate goal on Sunday at Northwestern. After being fouled inside the box, Derrien was rewarded with a penalty kick, which she scored. Derrien has appeared in every match so far for the Trojans. She was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team. Derrien played every minute (98) for the Trojans in round 2, and followed that with an 89 minute game in round 3.
Freshman Jaiden Anderson scored her second goal of the season in the Big Ten Tournament, a game-winning goal in overtime to advance the Trojans. Her first goal of the season came a month ago vs. Wisconsin. She added an assist in the Trojans NCAA round 1 victory and has appeared in 21 of the 22 games this season for the Trojans and has added 3 assists to her 2 goals.
Goalie, Laurence Gladu, is the only Trojan to play all 2,010 minutes so far this season. Brooklyn Courtnall leads the way for field players with 1,899 minutes played.
Gladu's eleven shutouts on the year are the 2nd most in the Big Ten and 6th most in the NCAA. They are also tied for the 3rd most in a season by a USC goalkeeper. She opened Big Ten conference play with three straight shutouts. In wins over four straight ranked opponents to end the regular season and begin postseason play, her only goal allowed was a PK. Gladu was named Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year.
Brooklyn Courtnall has started every game on the back line for USC this year, playing a full 90+ minutes in all but 5 games. For her career, she has started 76 of the 77 games she has appeared in. She scored her first career goal on Sunday against Sacramento St.
BK Harris has been elite on the back line for the Trojans. She has played an average of 86 minutes a game in the last 9 matches for the Trojans. She scored her first career goal in round 3 of the NCAA Tournament, firing in a PK goal to beat the keeper bottom left.
USC's 45 goals have been scored by 13 different players. The Trojans also have points from 13 different players.
The Trojans have scored 12 goals in the last 3 games, which is the most in a 3 game span for the program dating back to 2021.
USC has found itself shooting from the penalty spot a lot. In the nation they are tied for third in penalty kicks taken (8), and tied for fourth in penalty kicks made (6).
USC has outshot 17 of their 22 opponents and on the year has outshot opponents by a total of 317-169.

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Players Mentioned

Maria Alagoa

Jaiden Anderson

Kayla Colbert

Brooklyn Courtnall

Ines Derrien

Faith George

Laurence Gladu

BK Harris

Maile Hayes

Simone Jackson

Florianne Jourde

Helena Sampaio