Redshirt sophomore defender Dominique Randle was a strong presence on the defense for the Women of Troy (Charlie Magovern/Neon Tommy).

It was a tale of two halves this Sunday afternoon for the Women of Troy. In the first half, USC focused on the defensive side of the ball, while in the second half, its game plan was rooted in its offense.

“We needed to try to slow them down and make it harder for them to penetrate,” head coach Keidane McAlpine explained after the game. 

Unfortunately for USC, Stanford senior defender Hannah Farr scored her first goal for the Cardinal in the 23rd off a save by senior goalkeeper Caroline Stanley. 

From that point on, the Women of Troy kept their defense compact and minimized the shots the Cardinal got on frame. 

Heading into the second half, the Women of Troy came out with some more offensive intensity as they looked for the equalizer. 

In the 65th minute, USC came close with a free kick just outside the box from sophomore defender Mandy Freeman. Her kick connected with the head of freshman midfielder Nicole Molen, but the ball hit the crossbar just outside of sophomore goalkeeper Jane Campbell’s reach and a Cardinal defender kicked it out for a corner. The corner kick was subsequently cleared by the Cardinal defense.

The Cardinal once again took offensive possession of the ball, but the USC defensive held strong and limited their attacking strength. 

In the final ten minutes of the game, the Women of Troy once again went back on the offense. They swarmed the Cardinal’s third of the field and dominated the ball, but they were unable to find the back of the net in search of the equalizer. 

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Junior forward Katie Johnson is an active part of the offense (Charlie Magovern/Neon Tommy).

After the game, junior midfielder Jamie Fink reflected about her team’s performance against Stanford.

“I definitely think we improved,” Fink said. “We’re taking this game and just focusing on progressing from here.”

From a captain’s perspective, Fink shared her thoughts about finding success looking forward to the remainder of the season.

“We’ll have to be engaged and mentally prepared,” Fink commented. “Playing as a team rather than individually, working with each other, and sacrificing for each other.”

Stanley commented about the few opportunities that her team had to put the ball in the back of the net. She shared that with more offensive opportunites her team will find success. 

“It’s a cruel game,” Stanley expressed. “You have to put them away when you can."

McAlpine spoke about the team’s growth from game to game; he felt that “today was one of those games” where his team grew a lot. He’s focusing on the positives of the game, specifically the tactics that they executed. 

“If they remember that we still have all of our goals in front of us,” McAlpine spoke optimistically of his team. “Then it’s going to be very easy for them to shake this one and focus in on the last six.”

Similar to McAlpine, Stanley is optimistic that the Women of Troy will improve from this game moving forward. She’s looking forward to work on the team as a whole during practices this week.

“We can start focusing more on tactics,” Stanley shared. “Playing teams to beat them and use our strengths.”

The Women of Troy look to win at home against ASU (8-2-4, 1-1-3 Pac-12) on Friday at 2pm. 

Reach Staff Reporter Jodee Sullivan here and on Twitter here.