Women of Troy Dive Into Conference Play
The Women of Troy fell to Washington on Sunday after winning their first two games of conference play against Washington State and Oregon State. The team is now 2–1–0 in conference play and 7–4–1 overall, holding their second-place ranking in the Pac-12.
Conference play started strong for the Women of Troy with a 2–1 home victory against Oregon State. Sophomores Sydney Johnson and Nicole Molen scored a goal apiece, setting Johnson as the team leader in points with four goals on the season.
The team took to the road to face two Washington teams this weekend. It took a finish off a muffed save by the Washington State goalkeeper for junior Morgan Andrews to put the Women of Troy ahead in the 78th minute of their Thursday game. The solo goal gave the team their second conference win, cemented by four major saves from redshirt junior goalkeeper Sammy Jo Prudhomme — two of which came in the final five minutes of the game.
The Women of Troy continued to excel defensively against Washington on Sunday until a foul in the box gave Washington the lead with a penalty kick. Unable to find the net, the Women of Troy came home with one win and one loss, highlighting both the strengths of the team’s defense and their difficulties in finishing goal-scoring opportunities.
What is working
Defensively, USC is dominant. Prudhomme has dazzled in goal the last few games, notching five total shutouts this season. She fills the shoes of Caroline Stanley, the former starting goalkeeper who is now back-up for Hope Solo on the Seattle Reign.
In both games this weekend, Prudhomme made major saves against high-powered shots in the final 15 minutes of play time. She came close to blocking the game-winning penalty kick on Sunday against Washington, diving in the right direction, but was unable to completely stop the pace of the ball. Although the shot went in, the instinct and athleticism that Prudhomme has displayed bodes well for the Women of Troy.
The four players in front of Prudhomme round out a defense that has smothered teams consistently throughout the season. In 12 games, the team has let in only seven goals, topping every team in the conference. Even against high-powered teams like Duke and the University of North Carolina, the defense held together, keeping the ball out of the box and pressing forward to keep USC on the attack for the majority of the game. With an offense struggling to finish, this will be critical for the Women of Troy to maintain their winning record.
What needs improving
This defensive dominance allows USC to spend more of their time on the attack. On average, the Women of Troy take twice as many shots on goal as their opponents. But those shots aren’t translating into goals. Most of this season’s games have been low-scoring, with three or less combined goals scored. Often, those goals come late in the game — junior Morgan Andrews’ 78th minute goal on Thursday is the perfect illustration of this. This makes it easy for a single mistake, such as the penalty kick in Sunday’s match, to decide a game that USC otherwise commanded.
This lack of scoring is a huge shift from last year’s team, which scored 42 goals in 21 total games. This year’s team has notched 13 goals in 10 games so far, averaging a little over half as many goals as last season. There are many possibilities of what could be causing this shift, but there’s one bottom line — to increase their stability, the Women of Troy have to get the ball into the back of the net with more frequency.
Looking ahead
The Women of Troy look forward to Arizona State on Friday, a team that sits at the bottom of conference ranking and has struggled to finish against mid-tier defenses this season. However, looking at the season holistically, the team will need to be prepared for the typical powerhouse of the Pac-12 — Stanford.
Stanford is the only thing standing between USC and a first-place conference. Currently the team is undefeated in conference play and has only lost to seventh-ranked Penn State and 19th-ranked Santa Clara. But after beginning the season with physical contests against No. 1 North Carolina and No. 22 Duke, the Women of Troy have proved that they can excel against high-ranking opponents.
The difference will come in finishing ability — when teams with stacked defenses like Stanford face up against USC, they will have to remain aggressive and find frame with a higher frequency. If they can increase their goal-scoring opportunities, the Women of Troy have an even-handed shot at taking the Pac-12 this season.
Reach Staff Reporter Julia Poe here, or follow her @jpoe24601
