No. 15 USC Women's Soccer Opens 2022 Season at Purdue, Long Beach State

LOS ANGELES - The No. 15 USC women's soccer team opens the 2022 season on the road this week, heading to Purdue on Thursday and Long Beach State on Sunday.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW - Thursday's season opener at Purdue will be broadcast live on the B1G Network and Sunday's game at Long Beach State will be streamed live via LongBeachState.com. Links for all broadcasts and live stats can be found on the women's soccer schedule page at USCTrojans.com. In-game updates will also be available on Twitter by following @USC_Wsoccer.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA - Keep up with everything USC women's soccer this year by following the Trojans on all of their social media platforms. You can follow @USCWsoccer on Instagram and @USC_Wsoccer on Twitter, and like USC Women's Soccer on Facebook.
 
SERIES VS PURDUE - The Trojans are 2-0 all-time against the Boilermakers. The teams last played in 2011 in Indiana, with USC picking up a 2-1 win in overtime. The only other meeting was in 2010 when the teams faced off in Fullerton, with the Trojans winning 1-0.
 
SERIES VS LBSU - The Trojans own a 5-2-1 record all-time against the 49ers, with USC winning the last two meetings. The teams last met in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Postseason, a game that USC won 6-0 at home. LBSU's last win in the series came at home in 2016, a 1-0 victory.
 
A NEW ERA - The Trojans hired Jane Alukonis to be the fifth head coach in program history in January of this year. Alukonis comes to USC after four years as an assistant at UCLA, where she helped the Bruins to two Pac-12 Championships and an NCAA College Cup appearance. She played her college soccer at Duke where she was a four-year starter from 2006 to 2009.
 
AROD RETURNS - Joining Coach Alukonis on staff is Trojan and USWNT legend, Amy Rodriguez, who announced her retirement from professional soccer this past January. Rodriguez played 11 pro seasons, won two NWSL titles (2014, 2015), two Olympic gold medals (2008, 2012) and a World Cup championship (2015). She played at USC from 2005-08, leading the program to its first NCAA championship in 2007. Her name still litters the USC record book, with the forward sitting sixth in career points with 79, sixth in career goals with 31, ninth in career assists with 17 and third in game-winning goals with 12.
 
SUGAR ON STAFF - The Trojans' third assistant was hired on April 22, with the addition of Shigeyoshi "Sugar" Shinohara. Shinohara comes to USC after five years as an assistant at Arizona State. Prior to his time at ASU, he spent eight seasons at Brevard College (Brevard, North Carolina) – seven seasons as head coach of the women's program (2009-15) and one season as head coach of the men's program (2016).
 
NOTABLE RETURNERS:
Croix Bethune - 2021 Awards: MAC Hermann Trophy Semifinalist, consensus First-Team All-American, Pac-12 Midfielder of the Year, All-Pac-12 and All-Pacific Region first team. 2021 Stats: 16 goals (3rd most in a season in USC history), 10 assists (T-6th most in USC history), 42 total points (4th most in USC history) Notable: Missed the 2019 season with an ACL injury, but returned to earn All-Pac-12 first team and Pac-12 All-Freshman Team honors in 2020.
 
Brooklyn Courtnall - 2021 Awards: TDS Freshman Best XI second team, All-Pac-12 third team, Pac-12 All-Freshman Team. 2021 Stats: Started all 20 games at centerback, 1,807 mins played (most on the team), helped USC to 8 shutouts, notched 1 assist. Notable: Currently playing for Canada at the U-20 World Cup in Costa Rica.
 
Simone Jackson - 2021 Awards: All-Pac-12 second team, Pac-12 All-Freshman Team. 2021 Stats: 5 goals, 8 assists (2nd on the team), 18 total points. Notable: Currently competing for the U.S. at the U-20 World Cup.
 
Anna Smith - 2021 Awards: All-Pacific Region third team. 2021 Stats: Played every minute in goal, 14-3-3 record, 8 shutouts, 65 saves, 0.96 GAA, 0.765 save percentage. Notable: Returning for her 5th season. Has a 23-6-4 career record in 35 starts, with 116 saves and 11 shutouts.
 
Zoe Burns - 2021 Awards: All-Pac-12 second team. 2021 Stats: Appeared in all 20 games, making 18 starts, played 1,589 minutes (4th on the team), 1 goal, 1 assist. Notable: Currently competing at the U-20 World Cup for Canada.
 
Simi Awujo - 2021 Awards: Pac-12 All-Freshman Team. 2021 Stats: Appeared in all 20 games, made 15 starts, 2 goals, 2 assists, 6 total points. Notable: Currently competing at the U-20 World Cup for Canada.
 
Aaliyah Farmer - 2021 Awards: Pac-12 All-Freshman Team. 2021 Stats: Appeared in all 20 games, made 14 starts, 3 goals, 2 assists, 8 total points (6th on the team). Notable: Currently competing at the U-20 World Cup for Canada.
 
NEWCOMERS:
Nicole Payne - West Virginia (transfer) - In three seasons at WVU, Payne was named to the All-Big 12 Freshman team and the All-Big 12 team twice. She appeared in 53 games, making 44 starts mainly on the back line for the Mountaineers, scoring four times and providing two assists. Also competes for the Nigerian National Team.
 
Brandi Peterson - TCU (transfer) - In four years at TCU earned a second-team All-American nod and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year this past fall. She also earned All-Big 12 honors twice and was named to the All-Midwest Region first team in 2021. For her career at TCU, Peterson appeared in 81 games and made 76 starts, scoring three goals and providing 10 assists from the back line.
 
Hannah Dickinson - Lakeside HS (Seattle, Wash.) - Earned Washington State 3A Player of the Year, All-State honors twice, and was named to the All-Metro League first team three times. Finished her prep career as the school's all-time saves leader (181), posting a career 0.47 goals against average and 34 total shutouts. She had a career-high 63 saves as a senior and set the school's single-game saves record with 11. She also served as team captain for three years in basketball and one year in lacrosse.
 
Jayce Woodward - Seattle Prep (Seattle, Wash.) - Was a two-time conference MVP and Gatorade State Player of the Year nominee at Seattle Prep. Scored 57 goals and recorded 26 assists in three full varsity seasons. Earned All-League first team honors all four years, was the conference MVP and named to the All-State team as a junior and senior, and played in the High School All-American Game this past season. She also played basketball as a freshman.
 
LAST SEASON - The Trojans finished last year 14-3-3 overall and 8-1-2 in Pac-12 play, finishing second in the conference standings. USC made the postseason for the 8th consecutive season and 20th time overall, playing into the second round where they were bounced from the tournament on penalty kicks against Penn State. The Trojans ended the year No. 11 in the final coaches poll.
 
B1G MOVE - USC announced on June 30 that it would be joining the Big Ten conference at the start of the 2024-25 season for all sports. Also making the move is crosstown rivals UCLA. USC women's soccer has a pair of Big Ten opponents on the schedule this season, traveling to Purdue and Nebraska.
 
PRESEASON RANKINGS - The Trojans are ranked No. 15 in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll. USC was also tabbed to finish 4th in the Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll.