Following their draw against Colorado, the No. 11 Trojans ventured to the desert to take on No. 24 Arizona State and Arizona, where USC took one point across two tightly contested matches.
The Trojans’ loss to the Sun Devils in Tempe on Thursday was their first since Sept. 7. USC is now 13-7 all-time against ASU after a 1-0 loss. Despite the loss, the Trojans have won four of their last six on the road against the Sun Devils.
After a scoreless first half, Arizona State’s redshirt senior midfielder Hannah Lapeire scored the only goal of the match in the 72nd minute.
The Trojans had many chances for victory but couldn’t convert their opportunities into points. USC had 14 corner kicks to Arizona State’s zero, and the Trojans outshot the Sun Devils 13-5. USC also dominated the possession battle 61% to 39%. USC and ASU both had only two shots on goal.
Junior forward Simone Jackson and freshman forward Maribel Flores led the Trojans in shots with three each, with Jackson also having a shot on goal.
“Arizona State is always a team that is going to be challenging,” head coach Jane Alukonis said. “Also, traveling to Arizona is always kind of a blistering hot one, so even though it was a night game, it was still near 100 degrees, so we knew that it was just going to be challenging in different ways.”
On Sunday, the Trojans went to Tucson and drew with the Arizona Wildcats 1-1. Facing a deficit heading into halftime, the Trojans regrouped in the second half, scoring in the 57th minute.
Despite conceding a goal in the first half, USC’s offense came out strong, getting four shots in the first 16 minutes. However, graduate goalkeeper Hope Hisey kept her composure for Arizona and helped hold the Wildcats’ lead in the first half. In the 31st minute, sophomore defender Ella Hatteberg opened up the scoring for the Wildcats, kicking in a missed shot that hit the post.
In the second half, USC was determined to even the score. On a play that began with a throw-in, Flores lasered one into the right side of the net in the 57th minute, thanks to an assist by senior defender Zoe Burns.
The final 30 minutes of the match featured strong defense from both teams. Hisey finished the game with six saves, while sophomore goalkeeper Hannah Dickinson saved three shots for USC.
“I think the team appreciates what Hannah brings, because it’s composure, it’s confidence, and it’s just the calm that we need, especially in the way that we want to play, which is building out of the back,” Alukonis said.
While only scoring one goal, USC’s offense was solid, totaling 14 shots with six corners. With a matchup against No. 5 Stanford on the horizon, USC must capitalize on opportunities earlier to win.
While the Trojans’ defense has been solid, USC has gone winless in three straight. In order to win more games, the defensive unit must support Dickinson’s production in goal in order to come out ahead.
“We went with a press set … you sacrifice a little bit of risk for hopefully the reward, and we picked up a lot of balls really early from it,” Alukonis said in regards to the defense. “But, we had a little trouble converting so definitely in both games we’ve learned a lot from [the defense] and we saw adjustments that needed to be made.”
The Trojans will take on undefeated Stanford on Thursday at McAlister Field, with kickoff scheduled for 2 p.m.