The USC Trojans really are having football success in the Big Ten. Think we’re making that up? It’s actually true, just as long as you recognize that the sport Americans call soccer is referred to as football in the rest of the world. USC women’s soccer played a proper football match on Sunday against the UCLA Bruins. The Trojans, to use international football parlance, kept a “clean sheet” against UCLA, beating the Bruins 1-0 to win the USC women’s soccer program’s first-ever Big Ten regular-season championship. This is a football success story every USC fan can take pride in.
Maile Hayes scored the day’s only goal, tallying the winning score in the 36th minute. USC goalkeeper Laurence Gladu made a big save on UCLA’s Maya Evans in the 67th minute and was able to complete the 90-minute shutout with a superb performance. On a Sunday when Italian football powerhouses Inter Milan and Juventus played a shockingly wild and undisciplined 4-4 match, USC showed how to play top-class defense and keep its opponent under wraps for a full match.
The Ancient Men and Women of Troy would be very proud of these Trojans, who get to lift a Big Ten championship trophy. Congratulations to USC women’s soccer, which has an excellent bunch of footballers. USC’s identity as a football school goes beyond Saturdays.
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