The Three Torches 10/21: Kickin' It

Sampaio's Heroics Lead #9 USC Past #16 Penn State, Sets Up Winner Take All Matchup

Author

Zach Garrett
October 21, 2024

Happy Monday! Welp, if you weren’t excited to head into the week, the ninth-ranked USC women’s soccer squad sure provided that energy yesterday!

We’ll recap that and much more in today's edition of The Three Torches! Check it out below!

⚽️ Kickin’ It
🏐 Double Dippin’
🏈 To The Wire
⚔️ And much, much more!

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 Kickin’ It. Sometimes, you need every minute and every second on the clock.

That’s what the No. 9 USC women’s soccer team used in Sunday’s thriller with a 2-1 home victory over #16 Penn State when Helena Sampaio deposited a free kick into the top left corner with just 24 seconds left on the clock.

The victory sets up a winner-take-all showdown with No. 10 UCLA next Sunday with the victor being crowned Big Ten regular season champion.

🔼 Double Dippin’. The Women of Troy headed East and are coming home with two more Ws.

The No. 16 USC volleyball team swept through Maryland (3-0) and Rutgers (3-0) to improve to 14-4 overall and 6-2 in the Big Ten.

Senior Mia Tuaniga dished out 63 assists and served up five aces to lead the way. She now has 139 service aces in her career, which ranks her fifth all-time in program history.

🔼 Two For Koo. As if freshman Jasmine Koo hadn’t already made a strong enough of a first impression in her first few tournaments with the Trojans, she wanted to put an exclamation point on it.

She became the first USC freshman since Amari Avery (2021) to win back-to-back individual titles as she led the Women of Troy to a share of the overall team title at this past weekend’s Stanford Intercollegiate.

🔼 To The Wire. Another weekend. Another nail biter for the Trojan football squad.

Maryland used two late scores, the last coming in the game’s final minute to pull out a 29-28 victory over USC on Saturday.

Miller Moss finished with 336 passing yards and three TDs, but the Trojans lost another close one with their four losses this season coming by a combined total of 14 points.

Today’s Top Tier Performance presented by ARCO goes to women’s soccer senior midfielder Helena Sampaio, who provided the heroics on Sunday when the Trojans stayed atop the Big Ten standings with a thrilling 2-1 win over No. 16 Penn State. Sampaio found the back of the net in the game’s final minute off a free kick to secure the victory.

Today’s trivia question is brought to you by USC Credit Union, the Trojans’ credit union of choice. Now all residents of Los Angeles and Orange counties can join USC Credit Union and enjoy full banking services with better rates on deposits and loans, access to the largest shared banking network nationwide, and 24/7 mobile banking. Huddle up for better banking with USC Credit Union, the Official Credit Union of USC Athletics!

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Captain Clutch. Our question today: How many game-winning goals does Helena Sampaio now have in her four years with the Trojans?

Got a guess?

Scroll down to the bottom of this email for the answer!

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📅 THE WEEK AHEAD

*All times Pacific

Monday, October 21
🎾 Men’s Tennis @ ITA Southwest Regional Championships in Tempe, AZ
🎾 Women’s Tennis @ ITA Southwest Regional Championships in San Diego, CA

Tuesday, October 22
🎾 Men’s Tennis @ ITA Southwest Regional Championships in Tempe, AZ
🎾 Women’s Tennis @ ITA Southwest Regional Championships in San Diego, CA

Wednesday, October 23
No scheduled events

🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: Six!

Sampaio has three game-winners this year and had three last year for the Women of Troy as well!

⚔️ Have a great Monday, everyone!