After falling to Rutgers on penalty kicks in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday, USC women’s soccer (15-1-3) will return to the field as a No. 1 seed to host Sacramento State (5-6-9) in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The Trojans and Hornets have met just once before, in 1995, when USC beat Sac State 7-0 at home.
With Rawlinson Stadium under construction this season, the Trojans will host the Hornets at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, with kickoff scheduled for 2 p.m.
Even though the Trojans failed to secure the automatic bid that would have come with winning the Big Ten Tournament, USC still entered selection Monday with the fifth-highest RPI in the nation, having captured the Big Ten regular season title and going 4-1-0 against ranked teams. These strong performances throughout the season allowed the team to secure a No. 1 position in the tournament despite its disappointing loss to Rutgers.
Sac State, however, had to win three straight games in order to secure the Big Sky’s automatic bid. Finishing fifth in the conference with a 3-2-3 record, the Hornets’ only path to the NCAA’s was by winning the Big Sky Tournament in Missoula, Montana. Sac State won all three games on penalty kicks, playing to a draw in regular time against Northern Arizona (2-2, 4-3 on penalties), host and regular season champion Montana (0-0, 4-3 on penalties) and Idaho (0-0, 7-6 on penalties) to take home the trophy and keep their season alive.
If they took the first round against the Hornets, the Trojans would host either No. 8 seed Saint Louis from the Atlantic 10 Conference (14-1-6) or Kansas (13-5-4) the following weekend. Both the Billikens and the Jayhawks won their respective conference tournaments to secure automatic bids into the NCAA Tournament. The Billikens had to string together three victories in the A-10 tournament, while Kansas beat four straight opponents in the Big 12. Saint Louis will host Kansas at 5 p.m. on Friday for a chance to advance into the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
Because USC is a No. 1 seed, the team will continue to play at home for the first four rounds of the tournament, provided the Trojans win through the quarterfinals. Should USC make it past the quarterfinals, it would advance to the College Cup semifinals, which take place on December 6, and fight for a chance in the title game to determine the 2024 national champion. The College Cup semifinals and final will be held in Cary, North Carolina.
The Trojans kick off their NCAA campaign against the Hornets on Sunday at 2 p.m. at Dignity Health Sports Park with the hopes of bringing home the program’s third national title and its first since 2016.