Huskies Kickoff LA Road Trip Thursday at USC

SEATTLE – With three road matches remaining on the schedule to close out the regular season, Washington continues its quest to bolster its NCAA Tournament resume with a two-match swing to Los Angeles, beginning with a Thursday afternoon matchup with USC.

Thursday’s affair will be broadcast live on your television set on the Pac-12 Network, while live stats can be found at HuskyStats.com.

SCOUTING USC

USC is in its first season under rookie head coach Jane Alukonis. Prior to taking over the Trojan program, Alukonis spent four seasons across town in Westwood as an assistant coach at UCLA. Alukonis spent a pair of seasons as the director of operations at her alma mater, Duke, in 2015 and 2016.

 

The Trojans are third in the Pac-12 table with a 5-1-2 record in league play and a 9-2-3 mark overall. USC drew in both of its matches last week, tying Utah and Colorado on the road.

 

The USC offense is helmed by senior midfielder, who paces the Trojans in both goals and assists with seven and eight, respectively. Sophomore forward Simone Jackson ranks second on the team in goals with five, while sophomore forward Kayla Colbert has played a role in seven goals, scoring three and setting up four.

Five-year keeper and Sammamish, Washington, native Anna Smith has started all 14 matches between the posts, garnering a 0.67 goals against average with a .820 save percentage on 41 stops.

SERIES HISTORY

USC leads the all-time series with Washington at 16-9-3, including a 12-3-0 mark when facing the Huskies in Los Angeles. Washington’s last win over the Trojans came in LA in 2019, a 2-0 UW victory.

 

LAST MEETING (10/24/21)

SEATTLE – Washington tied No. 5 USC, 2-2, on a wet and rainy Senior Day at Husky Soccer Stadium. The Huskies twice came back from a one-goal deficit to earn the draw with the first-place Trojans. Pre-match, the Huskies honored their 13 academic seniors.

 

USC opened the scoring in the 30th minute on a goal by Croix Bethune, but UW quickly responded to equalize in the next two minutes. Kala McDaniel played a ball into the box that was flicked on by Summer Yates and Kyla Ferry calmy placed it away.

 

Olivia Sekany came up big in the first half, recording all five of her saves in the opening 45 minutes, to keep the scoreline level at the break.

 

USC once again took a lead in the 65th minute when Bethune found the back of the net for her second…