No. 1 seed BYU women’s soccer will host No. 8 seed USC at South Field Thursday evening.
The Trojans advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament following their 1-0 win over Grand Canyon University in the 66th minute off a penalty kick by junior Helena Sampion.
USC’s 10-4-3 regular season record secured them a third place Pac-12 finish and helped them draw an 8 seed for the NCAA tournament.
The Trojans’ cataloged their four season losses against UCLA, North Carolina, Arizona State, and Utah Valley University.
Despite their four regular season losses, USC went on a six game win streak, climbing to a No. 11 national ranking.
The 2-time national champions (2007, 2016) have appeared in the last ten tournaments and have earned a national seeding in the last nine.
BYU and USC met last in 2021, where the Cougars defeated the Trojans 2-1 in Provo in their national title game season.
USC leads the all-time series against BYU 2-4-3, however the Trojans tend to struggle at South Field. BYU leads USC 3-1 on South Field with their only loss being their 2008 NCAA Tournament second round matchup.
BYU goes into the matchup fresh off its revenge win over Utah State in the opening NCAA Tournament round.
The Cougars clinched their win with goals from defender Kendell Petersen and midfielder Olivia Wade-Katoa.
Wade-Katoa leads the team with eleven goals along with senior Brecken Mozingo.
BYU leads the country with 71 goals, largely coming from the five players with ten or more goals- Erin Bailey, Allie Fryer, Mozingo, Wade-Katoa, and Ellie Walbruch.
The Cougars rank second in the nation in scoring offense, posing an interesting matchup against USC’s defense that allowed only 4 shots against GCU.
BYU and USC face off at 7 p.m. on ESPN+ in Provo.