Women’s football | August 13, 2024

LOS ANGELES – The No. 23 USC women’s soccer team opens the 2024 season with two games this week: at New Mexico State on Thursday and at California Baptist on Sunday.

HOW TO FOLLOW – Both games will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Links to the broadcasts and live stats can be found on the women’s soccer team’s schedule page on USCTrojans.com. Game updates will also be available on X (formerly Twitter) by following @USC_Wsoccer.

SOCIAL MEDIA – Stay up to date with everything in USC women’s soccer this year by following the Trojans on all of their social media platforms. You can follow @USCWsoccer on Instagram, @uscwomenssoccer on Tik Tok @USC_Wsoccer on X, and like USC Women’s Soccer on Facebook.

B1G SEASON – USC is playing its first season as a member of the Big Ten Conference. USC announced in June 2022 that the school would move to the Big Ten. UCLA, Washington and Oregon also announced they would join the Trojans in the conference. The USC women’s soccer team’s conference opener against Washington on Sept. 12 will be the first Big Ten game for any of the school’s programs.

RAWLINSON STADIUM – USC is investing heavily in its women’s soccer program, as the school is currently building a new home stadium for the team on campus. Rawlinson Stadium will replace and expand the team’s current field: Soni McAlister Field, located at the corner of 30th and Hoover Streets, north of the University Park campus. The $38 million project broke ground on April 9 of this year and is scheduled for completion in early 2025.

HOME GAME SCHEDULE – With construction still ongoing on Rawlinson Stadium, the Trojans will play most of their home games at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif. Two USC games will be played at LA Memorial Coliseum, with the Trojans hosting Ohio State (Oct. 17) and UCLA (Oct. 27) at the historic stadium. None of USC’s nonconference games will be played at home.

LAST SEASON – The Trojans finished their final season in the Pac-12 with an overall record of 11-5-3 and a conference record of 5-2-2, good for third place in the league. For the 10th consecutive year, USC made the NCAA postseason, playing as far as the second round before losing to BYU. After losing two of its first three games to start the season, USC went on a six-game winning streak and climbed to No. 11 in the national rankings.

POST-SEASON HISTORY – USC made its 22nd NCAA postseason appearance last season and its 10th consecutive appearance since 2014. USC has won two national championships in its history, capturing the title in 2007 and 2016. The Trojans have missed the postseason just nine times in the program’s 29-year history and have advanced past the first round 13 times.
Last ride to each round
1st Round: 2023 – W vs Grand Canyon
2nd Round: 2023 – N vs. BYU
Round 16: 2019 – Victory against Santa Clara
Elite Eight/Quarterfinals: 2019 – Loss to North Carolina
College Cup Semifinal: 2016 – S vs Georgetown
College Cup Final: 2016 – S vs West Virginia

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE – The Trojans again have one of the most challenging schedules in the country, as seven of USC’s 17 opponents made the NCAA Tournament last year (Pepperdine, Stanford, Indiana, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Penn State and UCLA). This group has a combined nine wins in the postseason, including Stanford, which made the College Cup final, and Penn State, which made the Elite 8. Four of the Trojans’ opponents are currently ranked in the top 25 (No. 2 Stanford, No. 4 Penn State, No. 11 UCLA, No. 19 Wisconsin).

FIRST PERIOD PHENOMENON – Maribel Flores took home the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Award last season, becoming the fifth Trojan to win the honor and the first since Penelope Hocking in 2018. Flores started 13 games in 18 appearances last year, scoring 6 goals (tied for a team-best performance) and had the team’s second-best performance with 17 points in 2023. The first-year forward also earned a spot on the All-Pac-12 third team.

FLORES WITH MEXICO – Maribel Flores will begin the season with the Mexican U20 team at the FIFA U20 World Cup in Colombia. The tournament begins on August 19, the group stage ends on September 3 and the final will be held on September 22. Flores has already participated with Mexico in the 2022 U17 World Cup and with the Mexican U20 team in the 2023 CONCACAF Championship.

TROJANS AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES – Three USC graduates competed in the Olympic Games in Paris this summer, with Simi Awujo plays for Canada, Nicole Payne plays for Nigeria and Croix Bethune wins a gold medal with Team USA. Bethune was promoted from reserve status before the USA’s first game and played in the final group game against Australia. Awujo played in three of Canada’s four games, starting twice in the midfield, and Payne was a substitute in all three of Nigeria’s games.

AWUJO TO MAN U – Simi Awujo announced just before the start of this season that she would be turning professional and signing with Manchester United. The Trojans midfielder was twice named All-Pac-12 and played for Canada in both the World Championship and the Olympics during her three seasons at USC.