No. 14 USC Women's Soccer Falls to Pepperdine in Season Opener
LOS ANGELES – The No. 14 USC women's soccer team dropped its season opener at home to Pepperdine on Thursday afternoon, falling 2-0 to the Waves despite a number of close calls in front of the visitors' net.
The Trojans put up 15 shots in the game and had nine on target, but couldn't come away with a strike in their opener.
Pepperdine scored late in the first half, with senior forward Devyn Gilfoy stealing a clearance attempt in the penalty area and shooting it home. The Trojans had controlled the tempo for most of the opening period and through the first 30 minutes of play had four high-quality chances they were unable to convert.
Trailing by a goal, USC again pressed the action in the second half, creating their best opportunity of the day when Croix Bethune got her foot on a ball deep in the box that went off the crossbar. The rebound bounced to Penelope Hocking and her header attempt was denied by a Pepperdine defender, and even after the rebound came back to Hocking, her shot attempt was saved off the line by another defender.
75' | This game in a nutshell so far.
USC 0-1 PEPP#FightOn | #BoldBrashBrave pic.twitter.com/cN2w583oQr
— USC Women's Soccer (@USC_WSoccer) August 19, 2021
With the Trojans sending numbers forward late in an attempt to equalize, the Waves found the net a second time, as Gilfoy sent a ball forward to Carlee Giammona who beat a USC defender and scored from the top of the area in the 84th minute.
GOALS
40' – PEPP: Devyn Gilfoy (no assist) – Gilfoy stole the clearance attempt, took a touch around the keeper and scored.
84' – PEPP: Carlee Giammona (assisted by Devyn Gilfoy) – Gilfoy sent a ball ahead to Giammona and Giammona took a touch past the USC defender towards the top of the penalty area, then fired home a shot just inside the far right post.
UP NEXT
The Trojans hit the road for their next five games, heading next week to Utah for matchups with No. 15 BYU (Thursday) and Utah Valley (Saturday).
Credit to an organized Pepperdine squad today. Still plenty to build on for the Trojans going forward.
Hear from Head Coach @Kmcdane after today's season opener.#FightOn | #BoldBrashBrave pic.twitter.com/oOhlTd13eS
— USC Women's Soccer (@USC_WSoccer) August 20, 2021