UC Irvine upended a ranked Pac-12 foe on their home turf in shutout fashion in the NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship First Round for the second consecutive season. Today, the opponent was No. 14 USC, and the final score from Soni McAlister Field in Los Angeles favored the ‘Eaters by a score of 2-0.
The victory over the Trojans was just the second for UC Irvine in series history, with the only other final score to favor the Anteaters coming in 1994 – their first meeting. The all-time series record now stands at 12-2-3.
The Anteaters improved to 11-5-6 overall with Saturday’s result. They have won a season-best five in a row, including four consecutive shutouts in the 2022 postseason.
Destinee Manzo put the Anteaters on top after the throw in for Amber Huff, yet again playing a vital role on a scoring play. The ball went into the near post and was jostled about before Manzo got the foot on it and slid the shot past a diving Anna Smith and into the far right corner 15:58 into the contest.
Huff has now been part of setting up the last 11 goals for the Anteaters, dating back to the regular-season finale when she set up or assisted on four goals in a must-win game against Hawai’i to even earn a place in The Big West Championship field, where they swept through as a No. 6 seed.
The remainder of the half was scoreless, with UC Irvine keeper and Big West Championship Most Valuable Player Glo Hinojosa recording three saves by the break. The final 45 had Hinojosa busy in net, where she finished with a career-high eight saves.
As the clock wound down, UC Irvine’s Alyssa Moore punched in the goal in the 88th minute to ice the game. Manzo passed to a streaking Moore on the left sideline where she played it up and carried it into the top of the box. After splitting the defense, the only place for the ball to go was firmly into the net to make it 2-0.
Manzo, UC Irvine’s leading goal-scorer, recorded her sixth on the season and second game-winner in 2022. Moore’s connection was the fifth of the year for the redshirt sophomore.
For USC, Simone Jackson and Brandi Peterson both finished the day with two shots on goal. The Trojans outshot the Anteaters 16-12, with each team firing nine shots in the second half.
USC, a No. 4 seed and at-large entrant that was ranked 14th nationally in the latest United Soccer Coaches poll, closes the season at 12-3-3 overall. The Trojans were coming off their first win over crosstown rival UCLA, the country’s No. 1 team, since 2015, as they blanked the visiting Bruins, 2-0, last weekend. The loss to UC Irvine was just their second home defeat of the year.
UC Irvine will now face Ivy League champion Brown (13-2-2), next weekend in Tuscaloosa, Ala.