By Brandon Smith
Following two dominant performances, the BYU women”s soccer team will take on the Trojans of USC today at 3 p.m. in Los Angeles.
The Cougars (3-3) are continuing to build momentum after shutting out Utah State and Gonzaga in home games last week. A 2-0 victory over the Aggies and a 3-0 win over the Bulldogs have given BYU a much-needed boost of confidence. The USC match marks the first away game for BYU since Aug. 27.
“I don”t know how this team will react to the road,” BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood said. “Every team is different. We obviously didn”t react too well on our first road trip.”
The Cougars fell to Idaho State by a score of 3-1 during their first road game of the season. Since then, BYU has gone 3-2 with their only losses coming to No. 6 Kansas and No. 9 Arizona State.
“We”ve made improvements but we still need to get better,” Rockwood said. “We are continuing to work on our defensive shape. Not just our backs, but our team defense.”
Despite being prone to defensive breakdowns in previous games this season, the Cougars have fought back with the help of freshman goalkeeper Erika Woodbury. Woodbury was recently named the Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Week after posting back-to-back shutouts.
On the other side of the ball, USC (3-3) is coming off a 2-1 loss to No. 15 Tennessee. The Trojans have played some tough teams this season, including No. 19 Pepperdine and No. 5 Florida State.
USC is led by sophomore forward Rosa Anna Tantillo. Tantillo, who earned 2003 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year honors, has five goals and one assist so far this season. Junior forward Tina Sutorius rounds out the offensive attack for the Trojans. Sutorius has two goals and two assists for a total of six points.
As far as history is concerned, BYU came out on top last year in a 2-1 victory over USC at home. The Trojans, however, have overall bragging rights with a 3-2-1 lifetime record against the Cougars.
“Just getting used to being on the road will be an adjustment,” Rockwood said. “Hopefully we”ll do better from here on out. We”ve got to get used to it because we finish the whole season on the road.”
Freshman forward Carolyn Swenson, who tallied the final goal in the Gonzaga game, expressed optimism with regard to the match against the Trojans.
“Because it”s USC, I think everyone will be up for the game and really excited,” Swenson said. “I know we”re going to play really hard.”
