By Tayten Torgrimson
After gathering its first win in Pac-12 play this season, Oregon (7-3, 1-2 Pac-12) will take on its toughest test yet, reigning conference champion and future Big 10 opponent, USC (9-3, 3-0 Pac-12) Saturday. USC is ranked No. 21 in the country and has the record to prove it. Two of three losses this year have come at the hands of the top 15 teams, No. 6 Michigan and No. 5 John Hopkins. Yet, USC also has a win against (at the time) No. 15 Army on the road. Oregon comes into this game after dominating UC Davis 17-7 and with an attitude of revenge because it suffered a 14-4 loss last season against USC in Los Angeles. Luckily for the Ducks, USC comes to Papé.
What Oregon MUST do to win this game:
Like the last game against UC Davis, Oregon will have to play excellent defense. Oregon shut down one of the top scorers in the Pac-12, Grace Gebhardt. Gebhardt scored four goals in the loss but had hardly any production until the second half. USC has four players with over 20 goals. Ella Heaney and Shelby Tilton are tied at the top with 32 goals. Another thing that Oregon will have to do is shoot its shot. What I mean by that is to depend on the leadership and skill of Lauren Rismani. Rismani is fourth on the team in goals this year with 12 but is leaps and bounds ahead of every other girl with 23 assists. In the last game, Rismani scored two goals and had three assists. Rismani sets up just about every play for the Ducks and helps open the eight-yard mark and overall crease area for other scorers. Oregon has an explosive offense and showed that it can score on great goalkeepers, scoring 10 goals in one quarter on UC Davis’s Ashley Laing. USC has one of the lowest save percentages in the conference at 32%.
What USC MUST do to win this game:
USC has shown that it is a great team. It has won games with ease for the most part in Pac-12 play. On paper, USC has the advantage in this game and should win. But going on the road is never easy and coming off a narrow 9-8 win against Cal doesn’t exactly bolster confidence. The Trojans have proven themselves and will have a target on their back each time they step on the field. Oregon has a strong offense, and the Trojans will need to find a way to cut the production from the trio of Rismani, Morgan McCarthy and Anna Simmons. If the Trojans can make another player beat them, their chances rise immensely. Offensively, USC will look to depend on their trio of Ella Heaney, Isabelle Vitale, and Shelby Tilton. Heaney and Tilton have both scored 32 goals this season, Tilton scored four in the win against Cal. USC will look to do what teams like Rutgers, Stanford and Cal have done, hold the Ducks under 10 goals. Oregon is undefeated when scoring over 10 goals this season.
Game Prediction:
I think Oregon has a legit shot to win this game and if it plays like it did against UC Davis, it can shock the Pac-12. I think USC will be able to shut down one of the three main players for Oregon, and someone else will step up greatly -- whether that be Haley Cummins or Rachel Pallo, or a sort of “darkhorse” player like Riley Taylor. I think Oregon shocks the conference and country by winning 12-10.