The Arizona soccer team was surprisingly upbeat even though it suffered its fifth-consecutive Pacific 10 Conference loss on Friday.

"Everyone has to want it and tonight everyone did," senior defender Kristy Walsh said.

Southern Cal beat Arizona (5-10 overall, 0-5 in the Pac-10) 3-1 at Wildcat Soccer Field.

"We played a better game for 90 minutes today than we have in the past," head coach Lisa Fraser said.

Both teams came out aggressive, but the Trojans (10-4 overall, 3-2 in the Pac-10) dominated possession of the ball, taking 23 shots. Arizona managed just nine.

"If I had to say one thing we didn't do well it's that we didn't have good possession this game," Fraser said.

The Wildcat defense, however, kept Southern Cal from scoring until twenty three minutes into the game. Freshman forward and Pac-10 scoring leader Isabelle Harvey dented the left side of the net past sophomore Arizona goalkeeper Christa Conway.

The Wildcats put together a few scoring chances late in the first half in the few opportunities Southern Cal's defense allowed them, finally capitalizing on a goal by sophomore forward Nikki Jones with just over five minutes remaining in the first half. Midfielders Krista Bogdan, a freshman, and junior Emily Bumps put together a double assist for Jones, who ran up to the left side of the goal and tipped the ball to the left side of the net for Arizona's only goal.

Southern Cal, which extended its win streak to four matches after Friday's victory, scored once more before the half expired. Kaylee Whitfield, a freshman forward, passed the ball to the center of the field to junior midfielder Christi Ayala. Ayala beat U A defenders to the ball and blasted it through the middle of the goal 10 yards out with just under four minutes left in the half.

The Trojans came out strong at the start of the second half, once again dominating possession of the ball. Harvey took over for the Trojans and scored their final goal four minutes into the half. Harvey raced up the left side of the field towards the goal and dribbled the ball in the left side of the goal past Conway, extending Southern Cal's lead to 3-1.

"I thought we played tough defense," Walsh said. "They got some chances and they took them and they scored, but I don't think that it necessarily was a breakdown of our defense."

Despite not being able to convert on any of their chances in the second half, Arizona's defense did a good job of keeping the game from turning into a nightmare.

"Southern Cal did a good job of penetrating and getting to the box, but I thought today we did a better job of marking. We didn't let them just stand in the box by themselves with the ball," Fraser said.

Arizona, which is still in search of its first Pac-10 win, will get its next chance when they host Washington this Friday.

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