Trojans’ title win a keeper
Prudhomme saves day as No. 7 USC stuns No. 1 West Virginia
SAN JOSE — Goalkeeper Sammy Jo Prudhomme left Oregon State three years ago to help rebuild the USC women’s soccer program.
It could not have ended better Sunday for the redshirt senior who had eight saves as the Trojans toppled top-ranked West Virginia 31 in the College Cup final at Avaya Stadium.
Katie Johnson scored twice after the Mountaineers tied it in the 66th minute and had three goals over the weekend to become the tournament’s most outstanding offensive player as USC won its second national title.
But it took Prudhomme and a resilient backline to stop West Virginia (23-2-1), which fired 21 shots at the keeper, including nine on target.
“I thought we were incredible at moments to create chances and she did a great job to keep us to one,” Mountaineers coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said.
Morgan Andrews gave No. 7 USC the lead with a stunning header 82 seconds after kickoff before West Virginia unleashed its potent attack that led to a Big 12 championship this year. The Mountaineers equalized when Canadian international Ashley Lawrence sent a blistering shot from just outside the penalty box to make it 1-1.
But USC coach Keidane McAlpine thought the first score made a statement.
“They don’t give up goals,” he said of a team that recorded 18 shutouts. “To find a place to score, it was important to give us confidence this West Virginia defense can be beaten.”
The Trojans (19-4-2) dominated after Lawrence’s score, with Johnson adding her 10th and 11th goals of the year. West Virginia gave up three scores in a game for the first time this season.
The winning goal in front of a crowd of 6,612 came in the 75th minute when the Trojans intercepted the ball in West Virginia’s offensive third. A long pass down the left flank found Leah Pruitt, who ran around Mountaineers defender Easther Mayi Kith with no other backline teammates in sight.
Pruitt passed to Johnson, a Mexican international who charged into the penalty area unmarked. West Virginia keeper Rylee Foster had little chance to stop the close-range shot into the right corner of the net.
The triumph was part of McAlpine’s plan to get to the USC program to the top by cobbling together a roster that included six transfers from other four-year schools. Prudhomme was one of the first to join McAlpine when he took over in 2013.
“I came from a situation where it was very tense and very upsetting and you didn’t feel comfortable playing,” she said. “You felt kind of worthless.”
Prudhomme considered quitting before landing in Los Angeles where McAlpine rebuilt her confidence.
The victory also highlighted McAlpine becoming the second African-American coach to win a women’s soccer title. It has come at a sensitive moment for collegiate athletics, underscored by NCAA officials relocating soccer’s Final Four and six other events out of North Carolina because of concerns over the state’s new law that restricts rights for LGBT individuals.
McAlpine joined Portland’s Clive Charles as the only African-American coaches to win Cup titles.