Women's Soccer

    Oct. 12, 1997

    Women's Soccer Defeats California

    BERKELEY, Calif.-Junior forward Courtney Barham's goal in the 80th minute proved to be the difference as the No. 20 USC women's soccer team defeated California, 2-1, in a Pacific-10 Conference game on Sunday afternoon at Witter Field. It was the Women of Troy's first-ever win against the Bears in three tries and follows USC's first-ever win against Stanford two days earlier.

    USC improves to 11-1-1 overall and 2-0 in the PAC-10. The women of Troy are ranked No. 20 by Soccer Buzz and No. 23 by the NSCAA. California falls to 5-6-1, 0-2.

    USC had missed on three previous breakways in the second half, but Barham was finally able to put one away and break a 1-1 tie with 10 minutes left in the contest. Junior midfielder Carol Hatcher made a pass up to midfield, and Barham took the ball, outran a defender and slid the ball past the goalie.

    "This was the kind of game I expested from California," USC coach Jim Millinder said. "We didn't play all that well, and this was a battle. I knew at some point we would finish one of our chances. It wasn't attractive, but it was a win, and we need to win games like this if we want to become PAC-10 champions."

    USC scored first in the 10th minute when sophomore midfielder Kim Clark's free kick from the left corner found Hatcher at the back post, and she bodied it in. It was Clark's 11th assist of the season, tying a USC record.

    Cal hung with USC the entire match despite being at a man disadvantage. In the 15th, Barham was pulled down from behind on a breakaway by Cal's Ryan McManus in the penalty box. McManus was given a red card and Barham was awarded a penalty shot, but the Cal goalie made the save.

    Despite playing with only 10 players, Cal evened the score at 1-1 in the 65th minute when Maresa Zanetti headed in a corner kick. 

    Scoring Summary
    
USC      1  1 - 2
CAL      0  1 - 1
Scoring: Hatcher (Clark), USC, 10:00; Zanetti (Carroll), CAL, 65:00; Barham (Hatcher), USC, 80:00.
Shots: USC 21, CAL 13
Saves: Laura Badagllacco (USC) 7, Maite Zabala (CAL) 8
Fouls: USC 18, CAL 9
Corners: USC 3, CAL 4
ATT: 267