No. 1 Stanford women’s soccer (10-1-1, 3-1 Pac-12) saw its first loss of the season Thursday afternoon against No. 7 USC (10-2, 4-0). The Trojans defeated the Cardinal 3-0.

Although the score does not reflect it, Stanford held possession for extended stretches of time and had multiple scoring opportunities through both offset offensive plays and corner kicks, netting 10 to USC’s 3. Despite efforts to put the ball away, Stanford ended its first loss of the season scoreless.

Stanford dominated possession through the first 25 minutes of play. However, momentum changed when the Trojans scored on their first offensive play of the game in the 28th minute, putting them up 1-0 against the undefeated Cardinal.

A one-goal deficit heading into the locker room at halftime rocked Stanford. Although the first half went completely in the Cardinal’s favor in terms of ball possession, the score reflected their inability to finish their shots.

Heading into the second half, Stanford was determined to get itself on the board.

Redshirt sophomore Kyra Carusa had a wicked lefty shot that was barely tipped by the USC goalkeeper. Other efforts by sophomore Tegan McGrady, senior Maddie Bauer and sophomore Michelle Xiao were just short of tying up the game.

USC capitalized on the Cardinal’s seeming inability to score and scored another pair of goals in the last 20 minutes of play. The Trojan’s second goal was from a shot taken by senior forward Alex Anthony about 30 yards out that went right over the head of junior goalie Alison Jahansouz. Their third goal resulted from quick passes around the Cardinal’s gritty defenders and a clean finish.

USC ended the game outshooting Stanford 13-8. Not only did USC break Stanford’s 21-game undefeated streak in Pac-12 play, but it also recorded the program’s first win against the Cardinal on Trojan turf.

Stanford defense, a perennial force, has made it hard for teams to take shots in the first place. Sophomore defender Alana Cook, named Pac-12 Defender of the Week earlier in the season, has made several crucial stops. Aided by junior midfielder Andi Sullivan, McGrady and Bauer, the defense had never allowed more than two goals in a single game before tonight.

On the other end of the field, the Stanford offense has been taking chances and setting up clean scoring opportunities. The Cardinal’s 203 shots are more than double the 96 shots taken by opponents.

This being said, the team will definitely be focusing on shot placement and accuracy, which troubled them during yesterday’s game and has troubled them in previous seasons. Currently, the Cardinal’s shots on goal percentage is less than 50 percent, which could definitely be improved.

This will be crucial as Stanford prepares to travel to Southern California to take on No. 10 UCLA (9-2-1, 3-0-1) on Sunday. The Bruins have also had a good season, keeping them pretty far up in the rankings. They have managed 26 goals out of 163 shots, outdoing the Cardinal’s shot on goal percentage. UCLA freshman goalkeeper Teagan Micah has proven herself an essential asset to the team with a save percentage averaging over 80 percent. The Cardinal defense will have to be especially wary of freshman midfielder Jessie Fleming and senior forward Darian Jenkins, among others.

The game will be played Sunday at 1 p.m. in Los Angeles. Live stats will be available on GoStanford.com.

Contact Sydney Shaw at sshaw17 ‘at’ stanford.edu.