USC Women’s Soccer fell 1-0 on the road at Wisconsin to finish off their three game road trip.
The Trojans were coming off a 2-1 loss at Minnesota, where a late goal put the Golden Gophers ahead as USC was unable to match in the closing minutes.
The team looked to get back on track on Sunday, trying to avoid consecutive losses for the first time since the beginning of September when they were defeated by Stanford and Washington.
Disciplined defense was on display in Madison, as the two teams combined for only eight shots on goal with one yellow card shown.
Opening up the first half, USC had an early chance, with senior defender Molly McDougal putting in a shot on net that was saved by Wisconsin senior goalie Drew Stover. The Trojans had another chance right before the whistle blew, but pressure mounted late, with another save from Stover keeping the Trojans off the scoreboard, as the half ended 0-0.
The second half started off the opposite as the first, Wisconsin was creating chances with three shots within the first 14 minutes.
However, like USC in the first half, they could not convert and the game remained scoreless.
In the final ten minutes of the match, the Trojans were dominating in the Wisconsin zone, putting in crosses and corners, mounting pressure on the Badgers. Despite the pressure, they still couldn’t put it in the back of the net.
The Badgers managed to get the ball out of their own zone and attack the USC final third with under five minutes remaining. A late cornerkick—theironly of the half— kept the ball in the Trojans half.
With 2:28 to go, Wisconsin sophomore forward Jenna Baumann put in a cross that was knocked away by USC graduate goalie Bella Grust. However, the ball fell to the foot of graduate forward Adee Boer who netted her fourth goal of the season, and gave the Badgers the late one goal lead. Despite efforts to equalize in the final two minutes, the Trojans could not reciprocate, and the game ended 1-0.
This is the Badgers’ third straight victory, moving them up to second place in the Big Ten Conference standings. For the Trojans, they finish off their road trip 1-2, and fall to 7-5-1 on the season, with a 4-4 Big Ten Conference record.
This game epitomized the recent offensive struggles of the Trojans, as they have only scored two goals in their past three matches.
With only three games remaining in the regular season, the Trojans look to get back to their winning ways as they return home on Thursday night to take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
The Trojans currently sit seventh in the Big Ten standings. Sitting at seventh, USC still has a shot at making the Big Ten conference tournament.
With only a three point separation between the Trojans and the 12th place Cornhuskers, USC is in for a competitive end of the season as they look to secure their spot in the tournament and keep their season alive.