Since the Auburn women's soccer team defeated No. 5 Florida State, it looks to beat the 2007 national champions University of Southern California.
"We have to get better, stronger, faster and apply pressure," said junior defender Heather Havron.
The Auburn women's soccer team recently pulled off a huge win after star junior midfielder Katy Frierson blasted the ball into the back of Florida State's net in double overtime.
The USC Tournament begins Friday in Los Angeles, Calif., with play ending Sunday.
Along with Auburn, the teams involved in the tournament are the USC Trojans, the Northern Arizona University Lumberjacks and the Cal State Fullerton Titans.
The USC women's team has been a powerhouse in women's soccer in recent years, winning the NCAA Championship in 2007.
The Trojans finished the 2009 season ranked 19th with a record of 12-7-2.
This year, USC returns eight starters and 13 letterwinners.
Ali Khosroshahin has coached the Trojans for two seasons, accumulating an impressive record of 36-8-4.
Going into the USC Tournament, the host team is currently 2-1-2, with wins against Texas Christian and Purdue.
USC and Cal State Fullerton are both possession-style teams, and Auburn has several challenges.
"We are a young team, with a lot of young players, and we switched our formation," said senior forward Ashley Marks.
While many people may not be familiar with Northern Arizona University, the Lumberjacks are a legitimate threat to any team it plays.
Coach Andre Luciano is in his 10th year with the Lumberjacks, having led NAU to the NCAA tournament in 2008 and 2009, winning the Big Sky coach of the year in those years as well.
The Lumberjacks finished the 2009 season 10-9-2 and have won the Big Sky Championship for the past two years.
In the Big Sky Coaches Poll, Northern Arizona is favored to repeat for a third straight championship.
The Lumberjacks return 10 starters and 17 letterwinners, including star senior defender Kristi Andreassen, junior forward Jenna Samora and senior midfielder Brenna Boles.
The Lumberjacks have had a slow start to the 2010 season, with a current overall record of 0-2-2, but they will look to surprise in the USC Tournament.
The Cal State Fullerton Titans compete in the Big West Conference.
The Titans won the Big West Championship in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
This season, the Titans return 18 players.
Among the returning are junior forward Stacey Fox, senior midfielder Danielle Bitonti and senior goalkeeper Shannon Simpson.
The Titans are led by coach Demian Brown.
So far in 2010, the Titans are 2-2-0, which includes an upset victory against No. 18 UNC Greensboro.
The Auburn Tigers come into this tournament confident, with wins against Tennessee Tech, Milwaukee, Florida State and Western Carolina.
The only loss this year was a 0-3 defeat at the hands of Marquette in the MKE Cup.
The Tigers were picked in the preseason SEC Coaches Poll as favorites to win the SEC West.
Junior defender Heather Havron is determined to succeed.
"We can't ever back down," Havron said.
With players such as team captains Frierson and Sammy Towne, the Tigers have no intentions of backing down. Frierson has been named America's top soccer player by TopDrawerSoccer.com.
She has also been placed on the Hermann Trophy Watch List, as well as the preseason All-SEC and All-American teams for 2010.
Another key player for Auburn is sophomore goalkeeper Amy Howard.
Last year, Howard led the SEC in saves, with 121.
Howard was also named to the 2009 SEC All Freshman team and was awarded the Rookie of the Year award for the 2009 Auburn team.
"We know how capable we are," Marks said. "We are really confident, and we are just going to take our confidence up every game. We know what we can do, and we are just going to keep doing it."
Under coach Karen Hoppa's direction, the Tigers expect big things this year, including two victories in the USC Tournament.
In 11 years with Auburn, Hoppa has accumulated a record of 125-85-19.
Hoppa said the timing for the tournament isn't favorable to the Tigers because of the past weekend of games.
Hoppa emphasized how the scouting reports for USC and Cal State Fullerton will be essential to the preparation of the Tigers for the tournament.
"Luckily, this week we saw Florida State, and I think they will have similar styles to the California teams, so we are going to have to look at what we did that allowed us to be successful Friday night and try and build on that," Hoppa said.
Auburn plays USC at 5:30 p.m. Friday and Cal State Fullerton at 1 p.m. Sunday.
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