The USC Team You Don't Know Enough About

USC isn't known as a soccer school.

They have no national championships.

There is no men's team.

McAlister Field doesn't even have lights.

If there's any sport that's under-appreciated at USC this year, it's women's soccer. The Women of Troy just set a school record with 17 wins on the season. They finished the regular season as a unanimous top 10 pick in the various national polls, despite not even making the top 25 in some eyes before the season.

Right now the Women of Troy are in the finest accommodations available in West Virginia (whatever that means). They're gearing up to play in the Elite Eight on Friday against the Mountaineers, a team seeded two spots lower than the second-seeded Trojans.

USC might have hosted the quarterfinals in their alternate home -- the L.A. Coliseum -- but that facility needs to be ready for a football game a few hours later. It's only a regular season game against UCLA, but the way some people are acting, you'd think it's the last time they'll ever play there or something.

Meanwhile, the Women of Troy are invading Morgantown without a goal scored against them in the first three rounds of the NCAA Tournament. You probably don't know Kristin Olsen. She wears number 0. She's allowed that many goals in 13 games this season, despite standing in the net behind a defense that was ravaged by injuries early in the year.

You probably can't pronounce Ali Khosroshahin. Don't worry, Mike Garrett struggled with it, too. But you should know that the first-year coach came from Cal State Fullerton and found a way to create harmony. When asked about that process, he acknowledged, "You bring a new coach into a program, a new coaching staff ... the kids didn't pick you, you didn't pick them. It takes some time to build some chemistry and some trust with one another."

"If you woulda' told me at the beginning of the season that we'd be in this position, I would have asked you what kind of drugs you were on. We just weren't a very cohesive unit in the beginning. There were a lot of people with their own ideas of how things should be."

There's a chance you've heard of Amy Rodriguez. She came to USC a couple of years ago as the national high school player of the year. She's stood out this year along with Ashley Nick (#16, pictured), who made All-Pac-10 and Janessa Currier, who garnered an honorable mention for the Top Drawer Soccer All-American team.

You might want to learn the names Megan Ohai, Alyssa Dávila, Ashli Sandoval, Kasey Johnson, Karter Haug. These freshmen headline a promising class that came up clutch for USC all season and provide the foundation for a strong future.

The Trojans won't play at USC again this year. If they make the final four, all the remaining games will be played in College Station, Texas. It's a shame if you missed them. The experience of a game at McAlister Field is unique. Athletes from other sports make an impressive showing. The field is intimate, and good-natured hecklers can be seen making referees laugh.

There's only one #1 seed among the eight teams left in the NCAA Tournament -- UCLA. The cross-town rivalry could potentially be renewed in the semifinals. USC lost this season in Westwood, 2-0, after the Bruins buried two far-post shots and the Trojans seemed to lose a step against the nation's top team. After the Florida game, Khosroshahin was asked about the team's improved fitness and said, "We ran 'em, and we ran 'em, and we ran 'em. We had three days off right before conference. We brought 'em into the Coliseum and they ran the stairs ... Fitness is key. You run so much in this sport that if you're not in shape, it makes the game extremely difficult. If you ask me, our fitness level still isn't very good, but it's a lot better than it was."

Nobody expected the Trojans to last this long. Now, they hope to be fit enough for just three more games.

Photos by Jeff Sipsey

Comments

[ZzZman]

Haha USC doesn't have a soccer stadium?? Pathetic indeed!! Maclister field is a local HS field is it not?

[Adam Rose]

McAlister is a University field, it's just very small. The women's soccer team played in the Coliseum until 2001, when McAlister was built. It's a good pitch and has bleachers, a scoreboard, and modern equipment. It's just nothing spectacular. It can only hold so many people, and isn't appropriate for late rounds in the NCAA Tournament. As mentioned in the post, it doesn't have lighting for night games.

[USC parent WVU graduate]

The best accomodations in West Virginia (The Greenbrier) are quite nice, thank you. Actually, they are World Class. The best accomodations in Morgantown, the home of West Virginia University, are very nice, too. Actually, the game tonight will be played in a brand new, state of the art, 2,000+ seat soccer stadium - complete with lights. The Women of Troy have had a great season. So too have the women of WVU. It should be a great game.

Oh, by the way, there is a football game in Morgantown on Saturday, too. You might have heard about it.