After a thrilling victory on Friday, the No. 1 USC women’s soccer team took care of business again against Big Ten foes No. 5-seed Wisconsin 3-1 to advance into the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament.
It was the Trojan’s second matchup of the season against the Badgers, with the first one in September resulting in a comfortable 3-0 win. Sunday’s game nearly mimicked that scoreline, with USC dominating possession for most of the evening and putting on a complete performance.
USC only had a day to rest ahead of this match, but head coach Jane Alukonis believed that fatigue was never an issue for her squad.
“I was very happy with our freshness and ability to pull out many players for lengthy performances on both days at a high level,” Alukonis said. “Being able to put that load in twice with one day in between is a big ask.”
There was no slowing down USC, even on short rest. With the win against Wisconsin, USC have now scored 12 goals in its three NCAA tournament games. The offense had been firing on all cylinders, but it took some time for the pieces of the puzzle to come together to create a chance in the first half.
USC dominated possession to the tune of keeping the ball for 68% of the first half, but couldn’t generate a shot. However, neither could Wisconsin as each team looked to break each other’s backline or force a mistake.
USC inserted a batch of fresh substitutes late into the first half and Alukonis’ decisions paid dividends. In the 41st minute, freshman forward Faith George played a cross inside the box, but it was blocked by a Badger hand and whistled down as a penalty.
With many of the Trojans’ starting attackers off the pitch, senior defender BK Harris stepped up to the spot to take the penalty. Harris charged up and blasted a shot into the left corner past the outstretched arms of Wisconsin’s junior goalkeeper Drew Stover to make it 1-0.
Harris’ goal was the first in her four-year career with the Trojans.
“I wanted it,” Harris said. “We’ve been taking pens after every single practice and I typically finish every single one. Coach [Aluknonis] told me that if I felt like I was going to make it then I should take it, and it felt amazing.”
Harris’s teammates have nicknamed her “BK PK” for her accuracy during penalties in practice. She seized her opportunity to give USC momentum heading into the second half.
With USC finally breaking through Wisconsin’s tough defense, the second half opened up more as Wisconsin chased an equalizer. The Badgers allowed the Trojans to break through on the counter, resulting in a foul in the 59th minute.
Senior midfielder Helena Sampaio stood over the ball, looking for a crossing opportunity since the free kick was from further out and on a tougher angle than her previous set-piece goals this season.
Sampaio played a ball into senior forward Maile Hayes, who whiffed at it, but her presence in front of Stover was enough to throw off the goalkeeper. Sampaio’s ball went off Stover’s finger and into the bottom right corner to make it 2-0 in USC’s favor.
USC wasn’t done scoring just yet. Just five minutes later, senior defender Aaliyah Farmer played a beautiful ball over the top of Wisconsin’s defense to Hayes. Hayes recognized Stover was far out of her position and she took a one time shot that went over Stover’s head and bounced into the net to make it 3-0. Hayes now has three goals and an assist in her last two games.
“She’s the player who, when you walk alongside her as a coach or player, you think, ‘All right, we’re going to win because we have Maile,’” Alukonis said.
Farmer also stepped up when Alukonis needed her the most. After her mistake led to Saint Louis’s first goal on Friday, Farmer played on Sunday like nothing happened. Her confidence on the backline provided a spark in USC’s play on the day.
“I texted her yesterday and I was like, ‘I was just proud of your response,’” Alukonis said. “Aaliyah will be picked up by a pro team very shortly and being able to recover from that just shows her resilience and toughness as a human. Aaliyah’s one of the toughest players I’ve coached, so I had no worries.”
Wisconsin received a late lifeline back into the game in the 84th minute to bring the score to 3-1. After some headers went around USC’s box, the ball rolled out to the top for graduate midfielder Dara Andringa to unleash a rocket into the bottom right corner to score for the Badgers.
For the remaining six minutes, USC kept the ball down on Wisconsin’s end, wasting time until the clock winded down to reach the end of the game.
USC will now face its toughest opponent yet in No. 2 Wake Forest. Right before the NCAA playoffs began, Wake Forest was ranked as the No. 3 team in the country in the United Soccer Coaches poll, with USC right behind at No. 4. These two teams represent the very best in women’s soccer and they’ll square off on Friday at 2 p.m. at Dignity Health Sports Park.