Trojans In The Olympics: Women’s Soccer

Aug 12, 2008, Shenyang, CHINA: USA soccer player Amy Rodriguez celebrates her goal during the womens soccer game against New Zealand. USA wins 4-0 over New Zealand in a match during the Beijing Olympic Games. Mandatory Credit: CSPA via US PRESSWIRE

In just three days, USC and its more than 30 athletes will begin competing in London in the 2012 Olympics. These athletes will represent the Trojan Family and TEAM USA on their quest for gold.

First, here is a look at the Women’s National soccer team and Amy Rodriguez, and one special Trojan going for her second medal performance:A

The Women’s National Soccer team has exploded to national relevance again, after its performance in the 2011 World Cup, competing in the final round against Japan. Team USA would lose that match, but the women went on an incredible run up to that point. Most notably in the semifinal of the last year’s world cup, Abby Wombach and Megan Rapinoe made two extremely clutch goals to send the match to penalty kicks, where Team USA would win 5-3.

This team has also had much success on the Olympic front, winning gold in 1996, 2004, and 2008, and silver in 2000. Joining legends like Hope Solo, Rapinoe and Wombach is Amy Rodriguez, a Trojan alum who was apart of the 2008 effort and plans to repeat her success in 2012.

This will be Rodriguez’s second stint at the Olympics, as she was a member of the gold medal-winning women’s national team in 2008 in Beijing. She laid the assist to Carli Lloyd who made the game-winning goal in the early minutes of extra time to clinch the title for Team USA. She is USC’s first soccer player to earn an Olympic medal.

And after her successes in Beijing, she returned to USC to complete her senior year at USC.

In her years as a Trojan, Rodriguez had an exceptional career as a striker. As a freshman she was the Pac-10 freshman of the year and earned NCAA All-American third-team as well as All-Pac-10 first team honors; the next year she scored the game-winning goal in USC’s upset over Santa Clara in the NCAA tournament; during her junior year, she played in all 25 games and started in 21 of them while en route to being USC’s leading scorer and was named the NCAA College Cup Most Outstanding Offensive player; and finally, let USC to it’s first ever national title in soccer.

Then she went to Beijing a few months later and won a gold medal.

After Beijing, Rodriguez returned to have an outstanding senior year. She was named a Preseason All-American and was on the watch list for the Hernann Trophy. She was again USC’s leading scorer with eight goals on the season, and she again made the All-Pac-10 first team. She also became the first Trojan since 1997 to record a hat trick. She finished her career at USC fourth all-time in goals with 31.

She was then drafted first overall into the new Women’s Professional Soccer League in 2009. Since then she has established a solid career as a pro soccer player.

Thought the Games’ Opening Ceremony is on Friday, the women’s soccer team will take on France at 9 a.m. PT on NBC Sports. Once the whistle blows, Amy Rodriguez will try her hand—or, foot, rather—at winning her second Olympic medal.