Gonzaga University
USC
Bulldogs Battle USC Tough, Drop Match 2-0
9/11/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Sept. 11, 2009
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Gonzaga University keeper Jessie Thalman made a career high nine saves as the Bulldogs dropped a non-conference match 2-0 to the University of Southern California Friday afternoon. Lori Conrad had a team-high four shots including two on goal for the Zags (3-2-0) who had a number of offensive opportunities throughout the match but fell victim to two second half goals by the Trojans (2-3-0).
"We competed very well against a very good team today," stated Gonzaga head coach Amy Edwards. "We played hard, put together some nice offensive attacks and had them on their heels for a while. I thought we played probably our best soccer of the season in the second half but just couldn't finish on our attacks."
The match opened with both teams trading shots early on with the Zags coming close on two occasions. Sarah Rhodes led a Bulldog offensive attack into USC territory but had her shot gathered in by Trojan keeper Brittany Massro at the 12:58 mark. Later in the period the Bulldogs had Conrad, the team's leading goal scorer, nearly put them on the board as her header off of a Sheridan Jones corner kick was headed towards the corner of the goal but had it turned away by the Trojan defense.
USC, the 2007 National Champions, later countered with a couple offensive attacks of their own and eventually took a 1-0 lead as Alyssa Davila's header at the 35:39 mark was the first score of the day. Davila had gained good position in front of the net and was able to head a shot just over Thalman from the right side of the box for the score.
The second half saw the Zags hang tough as the Trojans put together a string of attacks on goal. Thalman along with the Bulldog defense held their ground though, turning away a number of the USC pressures. Just as the Zags were poised to make a couple final offensive attacks, USC's Davila struck again as her shot from the left side glanced off the crossbar and into goal for a 2-0 advantage at the 77:21 mark.
Gonzaga went on to fire up some shots in the later minutes but couldn't make a comeback as Massro and the Trojan defense held strong. Massro finished with five saves.
"We had a number of players play very well for us today," commented Edwards. "Lori and Elle (Sweeney) played outstanding for us. Lori was all over the field playing outstanding on both sides of the ball and Elle was just as impressive while directing our defense and playing on the backline with two of our young players. I was very pleased with how we battled today but just came up short on the offensive end."
The Zags continue their road trip with a match against No. 5 ranked UCLA in Westwood, Calif. 1 p.m. Sunday.
