By snoadmin
A smash mouth-style of play is nothing new for USC football. It’s just that they usually save it for the American kind.
The No. 14-ranked Women of Troy improved to 7-1-1 by beating the Long Beach State women’s soccer team 3-0 Friday at George Allen Field on a day in which they committed 18 fouls. USC’s physicality served to accentuate its dominance on Friday afternoon.
“It’s tough to play against girls that knock you down,” said midfielder Hayley Bolt. “But that’s part of playing tough.”
USC started off the scoring in the 22nd minute when Marihelen Tomer knocked in a long pass from Karter Haug. USC then received its first yellow card when Lauren Brown drew one in the 38th minute. Brown would go on to give USC breathing room when she put in an Amy Rodriguez pass.
“We made mistakes today that cost us,” said LBSU head coach Mauricio Ingrassia. “Especially the second goal. We got caught ball-watching.”
In what was almost a freak play, USC scored its second goal when the 49ers sent the ball out after midfielder Caroline Shevlin went down. The Trojans quickly tossed the ball in and Rodriguez set up Brown.
The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the 49ers and dropped them to 6-4. All four of the team’s losses have come against ranked opponents.’
“I think we definitely could’ve played better,” Bolt said. “We have respect for USC, but today we had too much.
“I think that a lot of the hype got to us. We came out a bit frantic and it caught up to us.”
The two teams played in front of a crowd of 1,204, according to official attendance – a record for women’s soccer at LBSU.
USC outshot LBSU 14-5, and while the 49ers were able to get the ball downfield and apply pressure, they were never able to capitalize. It eventually backfired, when Megan Ohai was able to put the ball in on an assist from goalie Kristin Olsen for the Trojans’ third goal.
Despite the loss, the team still sees a lot to take from the game.
“It’s still good experience playing the quality teams we have been playing against,” Ingrassia said. “We have to keep our heads up.”
“You’ve got to take it,” Bolt said. “And you’ve got to learn from it.”
