Friday night marked the second-largest crowd in the history of Garvey-Rosenthal Stadium as 2,318 fans came to see the University of Southern California Trojans take on the women’s soccer team.
The unranked Horned Frogs lost 1-0 in the match up against the 26th-ranked Trojans, who fell to the University of San Diego 1-0 in a home-opening loss.
Junior forward Jordan Calhoun attempted to give the Frogs an early lead with a shot in the 12th minute, but a save by USC goalkeeper Shelby Church kept the Frogs off the board.
Meanwhile, TCU goalkeeper Kelsey Walters picked up six saves in the first half, keeping the game scoreless until the 40th minute. Just before halftime, USC midfielder Ashli Sandoval hit a shot from the left side of the box, securing the only score of the night.
The Trojans recorded three shots within the first nine minutes, but none could find the net.
Calhoun said the loss was disappointing but that the team displayed a good effort.
“We competed. We got in hard on tackles,” Calhoun said. “The outcome is disappointing, but overall, I think we are where we need to be.”
Sophomore forward Kim Castleberry countered the USC offense with two shots of her own in the first 12 minutes. Castleberry’s shots were also off the mark, but, TCU continued to make opportunities for a goal to tie the game.
The game was Castleberry’s debut as a Horned Frog after transferring from Texas A&M.
The Horned Frogs fired off more shots at the goal, but none managed to make it past Church, who recorded four more saves during the second period.
USC dominated the first half with 12 shots to TCU’s four, but the Frogs rebounded in the second period, matching the Trojans’ eight second half shots.
Calhoun said the game showed improvement in her team’s performance.
“They played hard, we played hard,” Calhoun said. “We just went out there tonight and I think we played a lot better than we have in the past.”
Despite the loss, head coach Dan Abdalla said he was pleased with the improvements they made since their past game.
“The team finally competed for the full 90 minutes,” Abdalla said. “It was a good effort.”
TCU fell to 1-2 on the season while USC improved to 1-1. TCU has one more home game Sept. 3 against Houston before they go on the road to face Northwestern State on Sept. 5th.