Stanford women’s soccer (5-5-1, 4-3 Pac-12) will take on SoCal foe USC (6-3-1, 5-3 Pac-12) on Friday for the first time since Sept. 2019. In the last Cardinal-Trojans fixture, Stanford came away with a narrow 3-2 win. 

After a tough loss to Arizona State over the weekend, the Cardinal will be vying to pick up a win at home against the Trojans. In the history of the teams’ meetings, Stanford has a record of 16-3-1, with its most recent loss coming in 2016, a final score of 0-3. In the most recent game, Stanford held USC to just six shots in total, allowing then-freshman keeper Katie Meyer to make a single save. 

Stanford on the other hand took a total of 26 shots throughout the game, forcing the USC goalkeeper to make eight saves. The game was also extremely physical, resulting in four yellow cards total, three on the side of USC and one going to Stanford. 

This season’s matchup is expected to be equally physical as Stanford tries to prevent itself from falling into a losing record. The team will look to players such as freshman forward Samantha Williams, freshman midfielder Astrid Wheeler and junior forward Civana Kuhlmann, who have shown their finishing capabilities so far this season. 

Not appearing in this matchup will be freshman midfielder Amy Sayer, who has been called up to play internationally with the Australian national team. The team as a whole will need to step up to fill Sayer’s dominant midfield role. 

Players to watch from the opposing team include junior forward Penelope Hocking, who has eight goals so far this season along with two assists, and senior forward Tara McKeown, who is right behind her with six goals and three assists. Combined, the two have taken a total of 45 shots on goal — an impressive 54.2% of the duo’s 83 total shots. Both have also played and started in all games so far this season. 

The match will begin at 3 p.m. PT and be streamed live for fans here.