Lacking experience, Trojans confident in first trip to College Cup
By CHRIS DUNCAN, AP Sports Writer
December 6, 2007
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) -- Short on experience, the Southern California women's soccer team isn't lacking confidence heading into this weekend's College Cup.
USC (18-3-2) is the only team making its first appearance in the event this weekend.
"There are benefits to being here before," first-year coach Ali Khosroshahin said. "But I also think when you come in here not knowing everything, there really isn't that much pressure. You just try to do what you've been doing all season, and that's playing good soccer."
The Trojans will face top-ranked UCLA (20-1-2) in Friday's second semifinal. The Bruins are making their fifth consecutive trip to the College Cup.
Florida State (17-5-3) plays Notre Dame (19-4-2) in the first game on Friday. The Seminoles have reached the College Cup four of the last five years, including the last three, and the Irish have reached three of the last four, winning the championship in 2004.
"We are the only rookie here," said Amy Rodriguez, USC's leading scorer. "I see that there are advantages, as well as disadvantages -- the advantages being that we don't have a lot of pressure on ourselves. Nobody is expecting us to take the whole cup. That's kind of motivation for us.
"I'm looking forward to this weekend," she said, "because we're here to prove people wrong."
The swagger may be short-lived, considering how the Bruins are playing.
UCLA is unbeaten since opening the season with a 2-1 loss to Texas and its current 17-game winning streak includes a 2-0 win over the Trojans on Oct. 26.
But this is when it always gets tricky for UCLA. The Bruins are 3-5 at the College Cup since 2003 and they've never won the championship.
Junior defender Erin Hardy says this UCLA squad is mentally tougher than any of the previous teams that has gotten this far.
She's backed up by how the Bruins have won their last two games, rallying after their opponents scored first. UCLA reached to the College Cup by beating 2005 champion Portland 3-2 in double overtime -- after the Pilots tied the game in the final 70 seconds of regulation.
Hardy said UCLA teams from the past would've wilted in that situation and lost.
"This is the first team since we've been here that has heart and will fight back," Hardy said. "In the last Final Fours, we'll be down and we won't be hungry, or it doesn't even look on our faces like we're hungry.
"The Portland game, you could tell in our faces that we wanted it," she said. "We fought back and won. It's huge that we fought through it."
UCLA has won 16 of 19 meetings with its cross-city rival since 1993. Many of the players on both sides are close friends and grew up playing soccer together.
"We know what to expect," said Khosroshahin. "We know what they're going to do. We're ready. Bring 'em."
Like UCLA, the Irish are unbeaten in their last 17 games, though they lost to West Virginia in a shootout in the Big East championship.
Notre Dame beat Florida State 2-1 in last year's semifinals. The rematch could be a shootout -- the Seminoles are the nation's highest goal-scoring team, with 78, and Notre Dame ranks 11th, with 64.
Florida State junior forward Mami Yamaguchi ranks second nationally with 63 points (23 goals, 17 assists) this season. Irish junior forward Kerri Hanks has 48 points and leads the nation with 20 assists.
The Seminoles shut out their first three tournament opponents, then beat Connecticut 3-2 in double overtime to get to College Station. They've outscored their opponents 14-2 in the postseason.
"Our defending has been very, very good, which leads to our attack," Florida State coach Mark Krikorian said. "We've been able to get a hold of the ball, keep the ball and pass the ball and make other teams work really hard to fall back. If the ball's on the ground, that certainly favors us."
Krikorian said his main concern is Notre Dame's front trio -- Hanks, Brittany Bock and Michele Weissenhofer. The three have 28 combined goals in the NCAA tournament alone.
"All three of them are different-type players," Notre Dame coach Randy Waldrum said. "That's what makes them sometimes hard to deal with. They all have something different they have to offer."
By CHRIS DUNCAN, AP Sports Writer
December 6, 2007
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) -- Short on experience, the Southern California women's soccer team isn't lacking confidence heading into this weekend's College Cup.
USC (18-3-2) is the only team making its first appearance in the event this weekend.
"There are benefits to being here before," first-year coach Ali Khosroshahin said. "But I also think when you come in here not knowing everything, there really isn't that much pressure. You just try to do what you've been doing all season, and that's playing good soccer."
The Trojans will face top-ranked UCLA (20-1-2) in Friday's second semifinal. The Bruins are making their fifth consecutive trip to the College Cup.
Florida State (17-5-3) plays Notre Dame (19-4-2) in the first game on Friday. The Seminoles have reached the College Cup four of the last five years, including the last three, and the Irish have reached three of the last four, winning the championship in 2004.
"We are the only rookie here," said Amy Rodriguez, USC's leading scorer. "I see that there are advantages, as well as disadvantages -- the advantages being that we don't have a lot of pressure on ourselves. Nobody is expecting us to take the whole cup. That's kind of motivation for us.
"I'm looking forward to this weekend," she said, "because we're here to prove people wrong."
The swagger may be short-lived, considering how the Bruins are playing.
UCLA is unbeaten since opening the season with a 2-1 loss to Texas and its current 17-game winning streak includes a 2-0 win over the Trojans on Oct. 26.
But this is when it always gets tricky for UCLA. The Bruins are 3-5 at the College Cup since 2003 and they've never won the championship.
Junior defender Erin Hardy says this UCLA squad is mentally tougher than any of the previous teams that has gotten this far.
She's backed up by how the Bruins have won their last two games, rallying after their opponents scored first. UCLA reached to the College Cup by beating 2005 champion Portland 3-2 in double overtime -- after the Pilots tied the game in the final 70 seconds of regulation.
Hardy said UCLA teams from the past would've wilted in that situation and lost.
"This is the first team since we've been here that has heart and will fight back," Hardy said. "In the last Final Fours, we'll be down and we won't be hungry, or it doesn't even look on our faces like we're hungry.
"The Portland game, you could tell in our faces that we wanted it," she said. "We fought back and won. It's huge that we fought through it."
UCLA has won 16 of 19 meetings with its cross-city rival since 1993. Many of the players on both sides are close friends and grew up playing soccer together.
"We know what to expect," said Khosroshahin. "We know what they're going to do. We're ready. Bring 'em."
Like UCLA, the Irish are unbeaten in their last 17 games, though they lost to West Virginia in a shootout in the Big East championship.
Notre Dame beat Florida State 2-1 in last year's semifinals. The rematch could be a shootout -- the Seminoles are the nation's highest goal-scoring team, with 78, and Notre Dame ranks 11th, with 64.
Florida State junior forward Mami Yamaguchi ranks second nationally with 63 points (23 goals, 17 assists) this season. Irish junior forward Kerri Hanks has 48 points and leads the nation with 20 assists.
The Seminoles shut out their first three tournament opponents, then beat Connecticut 3-2 in double overtime to get to College Station. They've outscored their opponents 14-2 in the postseason.
"Our defending has been very, very good, which leads to our attack," Florida State coach Mark Krikorian said. "We've been able to get a hold of the ball, keep the ball and pass the ball and make other teams work really hard to fall back. If the ball's on the ground, that certainly favors us."
Krikorian said his main concern is Notre Dame's front trio -- Hanks, Brittany Bock and Michele Weissenhofer. The three have 28 combined goals in the NCAA tournament alone.
"All three of them are different-type players," Notre Dame coach Randy Waldrum said. "That's what makes them sometimes hard to deal with. They all have something different they have to offer."
Comment