Women's Soccer Falls to No. 11 USC
LOS ANGELES – The Utah women's soccer team closed out its Los Angeles trip on Sunday afternoon at McAlister Field. The Utes fell short as No. 11 USC defeated them.
Utah (5-6-3, 0-3-2 Pac-12) controlled possession for half the match but fell short to USC (10-2-0, 5-0-0 Pac-12). Utah's Baylie Jackson had a shot on goal in the game as she came off the bench and played 31 minutes. Chelsea Peterson tallied three saves.
"Today was not our day, and all credit to USC for capitalizing on all of their chances and our mistakes," remarked Head Coach Hideki Nakada. "I liked how we started the game, and I thought if we could keep the game even going into the half, we could give ourselves a chance, and it was really unfortunate to give up those two goals in the last five or so minutes as we had no choice but to open things up in the second half. We didn't have enough energy left after the double OT game on Thursday, and again all credit goes to USC today. We are looking forward to be playing at home and hosting Cal on Friday."
The Utes came out keeping the potent USC offense off the scoreboard as the defense backline did not let the Trojans get a shot on goal until midway through the first half. Utah's Chelsea Peterson tallied the save of the first shot on goal that game in the 27' minute.
Utah moved the ball down the field, but the Trojans continued to keep the Utes offense at bay. The Trojans broke the scoreless tie the 38' minute of the game when Zoe Burns scored. A few minutes later, Helena Sampaio scored, making it 2-0, heading to halftime.
Utah recorded its first shot of the game in the 51' minute when Avery Brady had a shot go wide of goal. Utah continued to put pressure on the Trojans backline as Baylie Jackson came in and ran up the right side and had a shot on goal, but Anna Smith saved it. The Utes came up short against the No. 11 USC Trojans.
The Utes return to action on Friday when they host California at Ute Field. First kick is set for 7 p.m. MT and will be aired on the Pac-12 Networks.