In a nail biter, the Trojan women’s soccer team remains undefeated in Big Ten play.
Through 83 intense minutes it was scoreless.
Senior midfielder Maria Alagoa had a chance to put it away with a penalty kick, but her shot was saved by Ohio State junior goalie Molly Pritchard. For a split second, it seemed like USC would have to settle for the draw.
Luckily for Alagoa, senior forward Simone Jackson raced to the ball on the rebound and lined up perfectly for the first touch, slamming the ball into the net to secure the win for the Trojans.
Due to the construction on Rawlings Stadium, the Trojans have been road warriors in 2024, playing their home games at a couple different stadiums. On Thursday, they played at BMO stadium, the home of LAFC and Angel City FC.
Throughout the whole game the Trojans were cheered on by the roars of family, friends and the Trojan faithful.
Despite the energy, the Trojans and Buckeyes couldn’t put the ball in the goal. Ohio State only had one shot the whole game, meanwhile USC had 12 shots — seven of those on goal — but Pritchard wasn’t giving up.
Ohio State almost scored a goal in the 10th minute, but it was challenged and ruled offsides. This shutout was goalie Laurence Gladu’s eight of the year, third amongst Big Ten goalies.
“It’s not just me,” Gladu said. “You have 10 players in front of me that do an incredible job at making my job easy, so really it’s a team thing.”
Sophomore forward Maribel Flores fired the team up when she was subbed in during the 31st minute and tallied three shots in 13 minutes.
The first period ended scoreless, but the Trojan fans still roared for them. USC had 51% possessions while Ohio State had 49%. USC was producing more with the ball, unlike OSU. While USC had six shots and three of those on target. The Buckeyes had no shots. But the Trojans turned it around in the second half.
“What we expressed to the team at halftime was that we need to keep the ball for longer periods of time, so that when the opponent has it, hopefully they’re a little tired in their attack,” head coach Jane Alukonis said.
BMO is a big stage, and Jackson stepped up to the challenge.
“That goal was everything,” Jackson said. “That was one of the best games I’ve played in my USC career.”
Cody Worsham, senior associate athletic director at USC Athletics, said that the reason USC plays at these venues is because the athletic department wants to “try to accommodate them as much as possible, because they’ve been so tough and resilient, and that’s what we owe them as an athletic department.”
While this win was sweet, the team has their eyes on a bigger prize.
“Our goal is to go for three rings and we want nothing less,” Gladu said.
This game was the beginning of a three-game homestand for the Trojans. Their next game will be against Penn State on Sunday at Dignity Health Sports Park.