LOS ANGELES – In the third game of a four-game road trip, Santa Clara women's soccer fell to No. 12 USC 2-1 Friday afternoon.
For the sixth time in seven games this year, the Broncos (2-4-1) took a 1-0 lead but the Trojans (3-1) were able to score two goals in seven minutes in the second period to capture the victory.
Tara McKeown scored what would be the game-winner in the 65th minute for USC. She took a bouncing ball and flipped it over her head with a defender on her back to get in the box. After a touch, she finished far post, just out of reach of Melissa Lowder, to make it 2-1 Trojans.
Minutes earlier, the Trojans evened the score in the 58th. Leah Pruitt took the ball down the right side and sent it into the box on the ground. The ball found the feet of Savannah DeMelo on the edge of the six-yard box and she knocked it into the back of the net.
Santa Clara took the lead in the 25th minute. Kelsey Turnbow carried the ball into the box after getting behind the defense and was one-on-one with the keeper before finishing low and inside the right post.
NOTES
- Santa Clara is now 2-6 all-time against USC.
- Lowder had four saves.
- Santa Clara put five of its 15 shots on goal.
- The Broncos have faced four Pac-12 teams this season (Cal, No. 7 UCLA, Washington State, and No. 12 USC), with one more, No. 2 Stanford on Sept. 17, to come.
WATCH TURNBOW'S GOAL
HIGHLIGHT | Kelsey Turnbow opened the scoring at No. 12 USC on Friday! #StampedeTogether #SCUBroncos pic.twitter.com/42h3Jvz8Ui
— SCU Women's Soccer (@SCUWomensSoccer) September 11, 2017
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"This game was nearly identical to our matchup with USC last year. It was two good teams that battled in a very close game. Last year we pulled out the one-goal win and this year they did.
"We played some of our best soccer today. We've been playing some good teams, mostly on the road, which will serve us well going forward.
"We've had a second half lead against some really good teams this year, including today, but haven't been able to close it out, which is disappointing. We're being challenged by it and we need to work on figuring out how to fix it."
Head coach Jerry Smith
UP NEXT
Santa Clara plays at Seattle at 3 p.m. on Monday to conclude a four-game road trip.
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