Oregon State at USC
Pac-12 play opened this weekend with the USC Trojans hosting the Oregon State Beavers at Soni McAlister Field on Friday, September 24. Leading up to the game, the Trojans were 5-2 in non-conference play, with the Beavers having an 8-0 record thus far. Coming into the game, USC’s Penelope Hocking sat two goals away from tying the USC all-time scoring record and three away from breaking it, trailing Isabelle Harvey's 48 goals.
Beavers junior Abby Schwartz put Oregon State on the board with a 14th-minute goal assisted by sophomore Amber Jackson. This was the first goal the USC defense has allowed since August 28. The Trojans answer came in the 22nd minute through junior Croix Bethune’s left-footed finish inside the right post. The teams stayed even for 62 minutes before the Trojans netted again in the 85th minute. Bethune was once again included in the scoring, running down a ball in the box and sliding it to Penelope Hocking who finished it off past the outstretched keeper to take a 2-1 lead.
Up next for the Trojans: Pac-12 play continues on the road, heading to Arizona for matchups with the Arizona State Sun Devils on Thursday, September 30th and the Arizona Wildcats on Sunday, October 3rd, with both games being televised on the Pac-12 Networks. For the Beavers, up next is Stanford on September 30th, before heading north to Berkeley on October 3rd to face up with the California Golden Bears.
Arizona at Washington State
The Washington State Cougars entered the game against the Arizona Wildcats with a 6-1-1 record in non-conference play. The away team entered the game with a 3-4 overall record this season. The Cats finished the game with a shot ratio of 7-15 with only 1 shot on target, with the Cougars having 6 shots on target across the 90 minutes.
Making the most of their eight corners of the night, junior forward Enzi Broussard volleyed in a punched ball from Cats keeper Hope Hisey in the 13th minute to take Washington State up 1-0. 5th-year Cougs forward Elyse Bennet’s 7 shots on target paid off in the 62nd minute, turning Mykiaa Minniss’ long ball over the top into the second goal of the game, outrunning her defender and cutting back to the centre of the box and firing a shot to the far corner.
Cougs 5th year Sydney Pulver became the all-time leader in matches played at WSU appearing in her 86th game. This appearance moved her into a tie with Ali Fenter (2008-11) at the top of the record books.
The Arizona Wildcats return home to take on UCLA on September 30th at 8pm MST, and USC on October 1st at 1pm MST. The WSU Cougars head to Salt Lake City to face Utah on Thursday and then to Boulder, CO to face Colorado on Sunday. All four games will be televised on the Pac-12 networks.
Utah at Stanford
No 10 Stanford opened Pac-12 play with a 3-0 win over the Utes to improve to 7-2 on the season and 1-0 in conference play; Utah fell to 5-4-1 on the season and 0-1 in conference. Utah keeper, Chelsea Peterson, made 12 saves in the game, against Stanford’s 15 shots on target, setting a new single-game career-high. She also became the first Ute to make 10 or more saves in a single Pac-12 game since 2019.
Stanford’s first goal came from sophomore forward Samantha Williams in the sixth minute after a one-touch pass past the backline from Julia Leontini. Williams went one on one with the Utah goalkeeper, putting the ball past Peterson and into the open net for the goal. The goal was Williams’ fifth, after scoring four times last year as a freshman. The Cardinal’s extended their lead to 2-0 in the 33rd minute through Jojo Harber, who headed home a Katie Duong free kick for her second goal of the season. Maya Doms scored her sixth goal of the year in the 70th minute, receiving a perfectly placed pass from junior Paige Rubinstein and slotting the shot past the Utah goalkeeper.
Over the game's final four minutes, junior Courtney Talbot tallied three shots trying to get the Utes on the board. The shutout win is the sixth of the year for Stanford.
The Cardinals will next host the Oregon State Beavers and the Oregon Ducks, on September 30th and October 3rd, respectively. The Utes will host WSU and Washington on the same dates. All games will be broadcast on the Pac-12 networks.
Arizona State at Washington
After 110 minutes, No. 15 Arizona State drew 2-2 with Washington on September 24th in Seattle. The Sun Devils now move to 8-1-1 overall and 0-0-1 in conference, while the Huskies are now 2-4-2 overall and 0-0-1 in Pac-12 play.
After 25 minutes of play, the Huskies were in a quick 2-0 deficit after two goals by ASU senior Nicole Douglas. Douglas put the Sun Devils up early in the 17th minute after being on the receiving end of a pass from Eva van Deursen which created a 1v1 situation that Douglas made the most of by scoring her 10th goal in as many games. Her second goal came in the 26th minute, scoring on a penalty kick after teammate Cori Sullivan was fouled by a Washington defender in the box.
The Huskies rallied back in the second half and cut ASU’s lead in the 67th minute when a long-distance free kick from Jessika Cowart sailed over everyone and into the net. A second set piece, a free kick from a few yards outside the box, evened the game up for Washington, with a strike from Summer Yates ending in the back of the net.
Despite ASU having 9 shots through the game and Washington having 15, neither team had a shot on target in either of the overtime periods, making this the third straight game where 90 minutes were not enough for the Huskies, and the game ended at two apiece.
Up next for the Sun Devils are home contests vs. USC on September 30th and third-ranked UCLA on October 3rd. The Huskies will next be in action on the road at Colorado on Thursday, followed by Utah on Sunday. All four games will be available to watch on the Pac-12 Networks.
Oregon at UCLA
Coming into the game, third-ranked UCLA were on an eight-game win-streak, having the week’s top offensive player in Mia Fishel, top defensive player in Kylie Kerr and top goalkeeper in Lauren Brzykcy. The Ducks came into the game with a 5-0-3 record on the season, with the previous week’s top offensive player, Zoe Hasenauer.
Both teams are on unbeaten streaks, with UCLA’s extending to 16 and Oregon’s spanning the past 11 games. The Ducks posted their third consecutive shutout to snap the Bruins' eight-game winning streak. It was Oregon's first shutout against UCLA in program history.
Similar to the ASU vs Washington game, 110 minutes were not enough for either team to grab a win. The Ducks pressured UCLA in the first 45, challenging UCLA goalkeeper Lauren Brzykcy with long-distance shots from senior Zoe Hasenauer in the 19th minute and freshman Alice Barbieri in the 42nd minute. The Ducks best opportunity to score came in the 44th minute when Ally Cook fed Lexi Romero in front of goal, but Brzykcy saved the attempted chip shot. The Bruins had two second-half chances turned away by the Ducks keeper from a corner kick, but Reilyn Turner's volley was saved, and Mia Fishel's follow-up rebound was also saved by Leah Freeman. The save of the night for the Ducks came in the 69th minute when Lily Reale hit Sunshine Fontes who got ahead of Oregon's backline but Freeman charged out of the net to smother Fontes' head-on strike from inside the 18.
Defense won out in the overtime period, with only one shot on target recorded, a last-ditch UCLA effort in the final 10 seconds.
UCLA next travel to Arizona to face the Wildcats on September 30th and the Sun Devils on October 3rd, while the Ducks remain in California to face the Golden Bears on Thursday and the Cardinals on Sunday. All four games will be broadcasted on the Pac-12 Networks.
Colorado at California
The Buffalos opened up Pac-12 play with a 2-2 draw against the Golden Bears on Saturday at Edwards Stadium. Colorado finished the opening weekend with a 5-3-1 record on the season and a 0-0-1 record in Pac-12 play, while California now holds a 4-1-3 record on the season and a 0-0-1 record in the Pac-12. Both Buffalos goals came in the opening 45, with the Bears responding in the second half with two goals of their own.
Shanade Hopcroft opened the scoring for the Buffs, slotting a shot into the bottom left corner of the goal after Shyra James flicked a header across to her. Just 79 seconds later, Colorado struck again. Sophomore Lawson Willis sent in a ball from a set piece near midfield which dinked off the crossbar and landed straight at the feet of junior Allie Palangi, who bounced the ball into the bottom right corner. Colorado held the 2-0 lead into half time, however, the Bears pulled one back. Center back Sydney Collins crossed the ball in from the right flank, which freshman Karlie Lema headed home. Collins turned creator for a second time, once again getting down the right flank. She played the ball back with Abby Borchers striking the ball into the back of the net.
The Bears had a 5-2 advantage in shots in the second half, with Colorado taking 5 shots in the overtime period, as well as taking 3 corners. However, at the end of the two overtime periods, the game ended in a draw.
The Bears will continue their homestand, facing Oregon and Oregon State next week. The Bears will host the Ducks for a 4pm kick off on Thursday, followed by a 1pm kick off on Sunday against the Beavers. The Buffalos also host their next two opponents - facing Washington on Thursday and Washinton State on Sunday.
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