USC Women's Soccer Heads to Northwestern

THIS WEEK - The USC women's soccer team continues Big Ten play on the road this week, traveling to Evanston, Ill. to take on Northwestern.

HOW TO FOLLOW - Saturday's matchup with Northwestern will be broadcast live on B1G+. Links for the broadcast and live stats can be found on the women's soccer schedule page at USCTrojans.com. In-game updates will also be available on X (formerly Twitter) by following @USC_Wsoccer.

SOCIAL MEDIA - Keep up with everything USC women's soccer this year by following the Trojans on all of their social media platforms. You can follow @USCWsoccer on Instagram, @uscwomenssoccer on Tik Tok @USC_Wsoccer on X, and like USC Women's Soccer on Facebook.

ALL-TIME VS NORTHWESTERN- USC travels to take on Northwestern in the Trojans' second-ever meeting with the Wildcats and the first time in Evanston, Illinois. The Trojans' previous and only meeting ended in a 1-0 loss in the first round of the 2025 Big Ten tournament.

DRAW VS IllINOIS- The Trojans played to a 1-1 draw with Illinois on Thursday, getting a first half penalty goal from Eleanor Morrissey. The Illini equalized in the 76th minute.

DRAW VS INDIANA - The Trojans opened the match quickly with two first-half goals from Rhea Moore and Jordan Hill. Moore scored her first collegiate goal in the opening minute after finishing off a counterattack. Jaiden Rodriguez orchestrated the attack and recorded an assist. Hill doubled the Trojans' lead in the 38th minute and scored her second goal of the season, slotting home a cross by Rhiannon Mahon. Indiana scored two second-half goals to salvage a draw.

RAWLINSON STADIUM - The Trojans are heading into their second season in Rawlinson Stadium in 2026. USC made a big investment in the women's soccer program with the construction of venue, opening the stadium just prior to the 2025 campaign. The $38 million project was announced in 2023 and broke ground on April 9, 2024, with construction finishing last summer. The stadium was built over the site of the former McAlister Field and has a maximum capacity of 2,500 fans. USC held a ribbon cutting ceremony prior to the season opener against CBU on August 17, 2025.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE - As always, USC will face one of the toughest slates in the country this year, with 12 of the 18 opponents scheduled having made the NCAA Tournament last season, including two who made the College Cup (Stanford and Duke). In addition to the Cardinal and Blue Devils, Pepperdine, BYU, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Washington, Illinois, Northwestern, Iowa and UCLA made the 2025 tournament. Those 12 teams won 22 NCAA Tournament games, with Stanford finishing as national runners-up. Through 12 games, the Trojans have already faced six teams ranked in the Top 25 and five in the Top 10.

CELEBRATING THE 2016 CHAMPS - USC celebrated the 10th anniversary of the program's 2016 National Championship squad on Thursday against Illinois. The 2016 title was the program's second after USC also won the NCAA crown in 2007. The 2016 squad was honored at halftime of the Thursday night matchup with the Illini. Illinois' goalkeeper coach is Trojan alum Sammy Jo Prudhomme, who was the starting keeper on the 2016 team.

HEAD COACH JANE ALUKONIS - Alukonis, who is in her fifth season at the helm for USC in 2026, owns a career coaching record of 49-19-14 and was named the 2024 Big Ten Coach of the Year after leading USC to a conference championship. In her four seasons as a collegiate head coach, USC has won four NCAA Tournament games, reaching as far as the quarterfinals in 2024. The Trojans also earned the first No. 1 seed in the program's history under her watch and welcomed the No. 1-ranked recruiting class this offseason.

2026 PLAYER NOTES:

Eleanor Morrissey - Morrissey scored USC's lone goal in the loss to Duke in the 63rd minute, the first of her career. She also provided an assist against Pepperdine and New Mexico St. Morrissey is tied for a team-high six points after scoring a PK goal against Illinois.
Savannah Leifried - Playing in her first collegiate game, Leifried assisted the Trojans' lone goal, sliding a pass into the area for Morrissey. She also had an assist against Pepperdine, playing a long ball forward for Morrissey who then crossed it in to Biddulph.
Jaiden Rodriguez - Rodriguez scored her first collegiate goal against then-No. 1 Standford in the Trojans' 2-2 draw. She recorded her first career primary assist vs Indiana, setting up Rhea Moore for her first collegiate goal. She leads the team with 34 total shots and ranks fourth in points (4).
Lily Biddulph - After scoring her first career goal against Pepperdine, Biddulph followed up with her first career multi-goal game against New Mexico St. on 8/27. Biddulph leads the team with three goals and is tied with a team-high six points.
Josie Biehl - Since making her collegiate debut against No. 3 Duke, Biehl has 58 total saves on the season. The true freshman made a career-high 11 saves against No. 7 Ohio State, eclipsing her previous career-high of seven saves which came against No. 8 Stanford.
Jordan Hill - Appearing in her first collegiate game against New Mexico State on 8/27, Hill broke a scoreless tie in the 61st minute to post her first career goal and added an assist in the 4-0 win. Hill recorded her second goal of the season on Sunday in the 2-2 draw vs Indiana. She slotted home a cross from Rhiannon Mahon.
Lauder Headrick - Headrick posted her first career goal against New Mexico State on 8/27 after coming on in the 83rd minute. The sophomore has played 63 total minutes in three appearances this season.
Sophia Cavaliere - After going down to an injury early last season, Cavaliere made her return to the pitch on 8/27 against New Mexico State, recording an assist after coming on as a sub in the final 13 minutes of a 4-0 victory. Cavaliere came to USC as a transfer last season, appearing in six games and making five starts before her season ended.
Rhea Moore - Moore has been a consistently dangerous threat driving the USC offense through her first four collegiate games, finally breaking through with an assist in USC's 4-0 win over New Mexico State. The freshman recorded her first collegiate goal vs Indiana, coming in the first minute of play. She finished off a counter attack orchestrated by Jaiden Rodriguez. Moore has played 468 minutes and is second on the team with 17 shots.
Rhiannon Mahon - Mahon has appeared in 12 games as a freshman this season, starting twice against Pepperdine and Illinois. Mahon notched her first assist in a 4-0 win over New Mexico State on 8/27. And she added a second career assist vs Indiana on Sunday.
Hadley Snyder - A graduate transfer from Louisville, Snyder is the one of five players to start 10 games so far this season, recording 785 total minutes.
Peyton Nakagawara - A junior forward who scored her first collegiate goal in the 54th minute against No. 1 Stanford. Her second-half goal helped the Trojans snap Stanford's 20-game home winning streak. The junior forward made her debut on the pitch against New Mexico State after battling through injuries for the past two seasons.
Maya McDermott - The graduate transfer from Syracuse made her first mark as a Trojan in a big way on 9/18 with a second-half equalizer against Oregon. Her flawless 25-yard strike was her first goal at USC.

USC Women's Soccer Heads to Northwestern

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Players Mentioned

Lily Biddulph

Josie Biehl

Sophia Cavaliere

Lauder Headrick

Jordan Hill

Savannah Leifried

Rhiannon Mahon

Maya McDermott

Rhea Moore

Eleanor Morrissey

Peyton Nakagawara

Jaiden Rodriguez

Hadley Snyder

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