USC Women's Soccer Hosts Maryland, Rutgers

THIS WEEK - The USC women's soccer team returns home and continues Big Ten Conference play hosting Maryland on Thursday night and Rutgers on Sunday.

HOW TO FOLLOW - The Thursday night match against Maryland will be broadcast live on BIG+, with the Sunday game against Rutgers broadcasting on B1G Network. Links for the broadcasts 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.

RAWLINSON STADIUM - USC made a big investment in the women's soccer program with the construction of Rawlinson Stadium. The $38 million project was announced in 2023 and broke ground on April 9, 2024, with construction finishing this summer. The stadium was built over the site of the former McAlister Field and has a maximum capacity of 2,500 fans. USC held a ribbon cutting ceremony prior to Sunday's season opener against CBU.

SUNDAY AT MICHIGAN STATE - USC suffered its first road loss of the season to Michigan State in East Lansing. After going into halftime with the score 1-0 in favor of MSU, the Spartans added three goals in the second half to beat the Trojans.

WIN AT MICHIGAN - The Trojans picked up a win in their first road game of the season on Thursday, beating Michigan 2-1 behind a brace from Maribel Flores. Flores scored once in the first half and then after the Wolverines equalized just before the break, Flores scored the game winner in the 67th minute. It was the second brace of the season for Flores. The USC defense held Michigan to just three shots in each half. Murphy Walsh assisted the game-winner, Jaiden Anderson and Faith George assisted the first goal.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS MARYLAND - The Trojans hold a 2-1 record against the Terrapins, with the first match coming in 1998 in College Park. The Trojans have won the two most recent matches, first in 1999 with a 3-0 shutout win in the USC Fila Challenge. The most recent match came in 2007, with No. 13 USC beating Maryland 2-1 in overtime in a neutral site game in Bloomington, Ind. Alyssa Davila scored the game winning goal in OT and Lauren Brown found the equalizer in the 80th minute. It will be the first conference matchup between the two programs.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS RUTGERS – The Trojans and Scarlet Knights have met twice before, first coming in 2004 when the Trojans won in double overtime, 3-2. The teams traded goals with Rutgers scoring first, but the game winning goal came in the 105th minute in double overtime to give the Trojans the win in the nonconference match. Last season the teams met in the Big Ten Tournament, where after two overtimes and still a 1-1 tie, Rutgers advanced on PK's. USC outshot Rutgers 26-11. Sunday will be the first time the programs meet in the regular season as conference foes.

LAST SEASON - USC won the regular season Big Ten Championship in the program's first season in the conference last year, going 10-0-1 in league play and 18-1-4 overall on the season. The Trojans earned their first No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, playing into the quarterfinals before narrowly falling to Wake Forest. The team's .870 winning percentage was the best in program history and the Trojans' undefeated conference record was also a first for the program. USC finished the year ranked No. 5 in the final coaches poll.

HEAD COACH JANE ALUKONIS - Alukonis led the Trojans to one of the best seasons in program history in just her third year at the helm for USC and her third overall season as a collegiate head coach in 2024. She currently owns a career coaching record of 44-10-11 and was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year after leading USC to a conference championship.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE - The Trojans again play one of the most challenging schedules in the country, with 10 of USC's 16 opponents making last year's NCAA Tournament, seven winning at least one game in the tournament and one (Stanford) making the College Cup last year. Six of USC's opponents finished least year ranked in the Top 25 of the Coaches' Poll: No. 4 Stanford, No. 12 Iowa, No. 14 Michigan State, No. 17 Minnesota, No. 18 UCLA, No. 19 Wisconsin.

2025 PLAYER NOTES:

Maribel Flores has been impressive for the Trojans so far, scoring 5 goals and also notching two assists. Flores' 12 points lead the team and her 1.50 points per game are thurd in the Big Ten. She is also third in the conference with 0.63 goals per game.
Ines Derrien began her season with 2 goals against CBU. She added a goal and 2 assists against New Mexico State. Her 8 total points are third most on the team.
Jaiden Anderson scored the first ever goal in Rawlinson Stadium history, converting on a PK in the season opener against CBU. The sophomore notched her first assist of the season in the Trojans' win against Pepperdine, and scored her second goal of the season against New Mexico State. Her most recent score came against Stanford. Her 10 points are second most on the team, with her 1.25 points per game 7th in the conference.
Faith George has 2 goals and 2 assists so far this season. Her first goal was the equalizer against Pepperdine, with her first assist coming in the 4-0 opening night victory. Her most recent goal was the eventual game-winner against NM State, and added her most recent assist in the Trojans win at Michigan.
Bella Grust has been excellent for the Trojans in goal to start the year. The graduate student posted an opening night shutout against CBU, which was just the second time in 6 seasons a Trojan goalie has begun the season with a shutout. Against Pepperdine, Grust was tested and responded with 4 saves, 2 PK saves, and the win. She added her 2nd shutout and 3rd win against New Mexico State, followed by her 3rd shutout (2nd solo) against Portland.
Lily Biddulph leads all USC field players in minutes played with 609. She has played in every game and started 7 of them on the USC back line.
Edra Bello is second in minutes played as a freshman. Bello has started all 8 games on the back line, playing 590 minutes. She has 1 assist and has helped lead USC to 3 shutouts.

USC Women's Soccer Hosts Maryland, Rutgers

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Players Mentioned

Jaiden Anderson

Edra Bello

Lily Biddulph

Ines Derrien

Maribel Flores

Faith George

Bella Grust

Murphy Walsh

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