LOS ANGELES – No. 20 Santa Clara women's soccer's season came to an end with a 1-0 defeat at No. 9 USC in the third round of the NCAA Tournament Sunday afternoon.
The Trojans (17-4-1) controlled much of the first half and ended up in the offensive end more than the Broncos (15-6-2) despite stretches in the second half that had Santa Clara on the front foot, but the equalizer never came.
The lone tally of the match came in the 41st minute. A corner kick was cleared but went straight to Natalie Ward who volleyed a perfect shot from outside the box that went just under the crossbar and over the leaping Sophie Whitehouse.
On the save attempt, Whitehouse, who had made five saves to that point, came down on her arm and had to be taken out of the game. Courtney Ogren came in for the remainder of the match and made two saves.
The Broncos best chance came in the 78th minute when her header went wide of the right post with the goalkeeper out of position.
Minutes later, a free kick from Kelcie Hedge just missed the upper corner of the goal on a free kick from 30 yards out.
It was the first time in 2019 Santa Clara was shutout.
NOTES
- Santa Clara is now 2-7 all-time against USC and 0-1 in the NCAA Tournament.
- The senior class advanced to the national quarterfinals in 2016, the third round in 2017 and 2019, and the second round in 2018. They won at least one NCAA Tournament game in every season.
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