USC Women's Soccer Opens Big Ten Play at Washington

THIS WEEK - The USC women's soccer team kicks off its inaugural Big Ten season this week, traveling to play the Washington Huskies on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.

HOW TO FOLLOW - Thursday's game will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network. 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.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS WASH - Both previous members of the Pac-12, the Trojans and Huskies have a deep history dating back to their first matchup in 1995. USC leads the all-time series (18-9-3) while being unbeaten in their last 4 matchups (3-0-1).

B1G SEASON - USC is playing in its first season as a member of the Big Ten Conference. USC announced in June of 2022 that the school would be making a move to the Big Ten. UCLA, Washington and Oregon also announced they would be moving to the conference with the Trojans. USC women's soccer's conference opener against Washington on Sept. 12 will be the first Big Ten game for any of the school's programs.

SUNDAY VS. STANFORD - The Trojans fell for the first time in the young season after a hard-fought battle with No. 1 Stanford. After giving up two first half goals, the Trojans regrouped and answered with a goal of their own in the 49th minute. After having no shots on goal in the first half, the Trojans put four balls on target in the second half and had a 7-3 advantage in corner kicks in the final 45 minutes as well. The final score was 2-1.

LAST WEEK AT USF - The Trojans got their Bay Area trip started with a shutout at San Francisco on Thursday, taking down the Dons 2-0. USC scored both of its goals in the second half, getting a free kick goal from Maria Alagoa and then a late strike from Kayla Colbert to cap it. It was the second shutout of the year for USC.

WIN AT PORTLAND - The Trojans won their lone game two weeks ago, beating Portland 2-1 on the road on Saturday. Kayla Colbert scored her first goal of the season in the first half and then Maile Hayes converted a PK in the second half. USC held the Pilots scoreless for most of the afternoon, but gave up a PK in the 86th minute for the lone goal allowed.

AT PEPPERDINE - The Trojans picked up a comeback win at Pepperdine earlier this year, taking down the Waves 3-1 on Aug. 25. Pepperdine scored in the second minute of the game, but the USC defense held from there on out. The Trojans scored all three of their goals in the second half, getting the equalizer from Faith George, the go-ahead strike from Hannah Griffin and then an own goal off a Simone Jackson cross to cap it. George's goal was the first of her collegiate career.

SHUTOUT AT CBU - The Trojans notched their first win of the season in Riverside on Aug. 18, shutting out CBU 1-0. Maile Hayes scored her second goal of the season in the 11th minute, and the USC defense made it hold up. The Trojans outshot CBU 23-9 in the contest.

PLAYER/TEAM NOTES:

Maile Hayes, who transferred from Texas A&M this offseason, leads USC with 7 points, scoring 3 goals and posting 1 assist in 6 games as a Trojan.
Freshman Faith George is second on the team with 5 total points, scoring once and providing 3 assists in her first 6 collegiate games.
Maria Alagoa became the 3rd player to score multiple goals this season for the Trojans. She scored her first goal of the season against New Mexico State and her second against USF last week. Alagoa, who is also a member of the Portuguese National Team, joined the women's soccer program this offseason after transferring from Florida State.
Kayla Colbert, USC's points leader last season, got on the board with her first goal of the season at Portland on Aug. 31 and followed it up with a goal against USF the very next game. Colbert had 6 goals and 6 assists last year.
2 different USC players have played all 540 minutes so far this season: Molly McDougal, Laurence Gladu
USC's 11 goals have been scored by 5 different players. The Trojans also have points from 9 different players.
USC has outshot 4 of their 6 opponents and on the year has outshot opponents by a total of 80-51.

PROGRAM RANKING - Soccer Wire recently compiled the numbers from the last five years and ranked the Top 50 programs in the country over that period, with USC coming in at No. 9. USC has reached the post-season each of the last five years and has finished in the Top 25 of the coaches poll each full season during that period.

ECNL STARS - The Trojan roster features back-to-back ECNL U18/U19 Players of the Year after Ines Derrien received the 2024 honor earlier this month. Maribel Flores was the 2023 ECNL U18/U19 Player of the Year as well.

RAWLINSON STADIUM - USC is making a big investment in its women's soccer program as the school is currently building a new home on campus for the team. Rawlinson Stadium will replace and expand upon the previous site of play for the team: Soni McAlister Field at 30th and Hoover streets just north of the University Park Campus. The $38 million project broke ground on April 9 of this year and is scheduled to be completed early in 2025.

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Players Mentioned

Maria Alagoa

Kayla Colbert

Ines Derrien

Maribel Flores

Faith George

Laurence Gladu

Hannah Griffin

Maile Hayes

Simone Jackson

Molly McDougal