USC get first-round bye for NCAA women’s soccer tournament

The USC Trojans are coming off a solid Pac-12 conference season in women’s soccer this spring, and are set to extend their season in the 2021 NCAA Tournament in the coming days.

USC are the No. 8 seed for the tournament, and therefore get a bye in the first round. That means they will play the winner of Tuesday’s game between Ole Miss and Bowling Green, the Trojans scheduled to play Friday. The entire tournament is scheduled to take place in North Carolina.

USC finished in 2nd place in conference play this season, behind only archrival UCLA, and their goal-filled displays provided some of the most exciting soccer in the Pac-12 this spring. Penelope Hocking was named Pac-12 Forward of the Year and she was one of three Trojans on the All-Pac-12 First Team, alongside Tara McKeown and Croix Bethune. Savannah DeMelo and Samantha Bruder were named to the All-Pac-12 Second Team, and Kaylie Collins was honored on the All-Pac-12 Third Team. Bethune was also named to the All-Freshman Team.

The Trojans have two national championships to their name already, in 2007 and 2016, the latter under current head coach Keidane McAlpine. Can they add to their trophy case this season? We’ll find out starting Friday if they can make a deep run in 2021.