Arizona was on cloud nine coming into this game after defeating No. 16 UCLA at home last Thursday. The Wildcats, however, couldn’t keep the momentum going, as its 12 shots and eight corners weren’t enough to get a goal on Sunday, losing to No. 5 USC 1-0. The Trojans picked up their ninth win of the season and moved to 9-1-1 overall, while Arizona falls to 7-3 this season. 

It was a defensive battle from start to finish with both goalkeepers having to make four saves. True freshman Hope Hisey made her third conference start in net this season, allowing just one goal the entire weekend.

The only goal of the match came in the 37th minute from USC’s Tara McKeown after an overtop through ball from Kaylin Martin, allowing for McKeown to slot it home for her ninth goal of the year. 

Following the goal late in the first half, Arizona switched up its formation to put more attackers forward. This led to a few more chances, but it wasn’t enough to level the score.

Arizona suffered its third loss of the season and are now 1-2 in conference play. Despite losing two of its last three matches, Tony Amato was still pleased with his team’s performance this weekend.

“I wasn’t totally sure where we were at; we were giving up goals throughout the season, but we defended really well as a team this weekend and played two really good teams and gave up one goal. So that’s where I was probably most pleased, even though we want to win both games.” Amato said. 

The ‘Cats hit the road next weekend to play No. 14-ranked Washington State on Thursday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m. The road trip will conclude with a game against Washington on Sunday, Oct. 13 at noon. Both games will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks. 

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