USC
Stanford
No. 5 USC Lacrosse Wins MPSF Championship
May 01, 2016 | Women's Lacrosse
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May 1, 2016
Final Stats | Notes | Final Statistics (PDF) 
STANFORD, Calif. -- The top-seeded and fifth-ranked USC women's lacrosse team (19-0) completed an 8-5 win over second-seeded tournament host No. 9 Stanford (14-4) to win the program's first MPSF title at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium on Sunday, May 1. The Women of Troy remained undefeated and will receive the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Championships, which begin May 13.
The 19 wins tie the most in a single season in MPSF history and gives head coach Lindsey Munday her 50th career victory. The Trojans became the first team in league history to go through both the regular season and the MPSF tournament undefeated.
The Women of Troy out-shot the Cardinal, 27-16, and won the center circle by a 9-6 margin in draw controls. Junior attacker Michaela Michael scored a hat trick and led all players with five draw controls. Senior attacker Caroline deLyra had two goals. Senior midfielder Amanda Johansen, and junior attackers Cynthia Del Core and Kylie Drexel each had goals to round out USC's scoring. Johansen had two of the Trojans' draw controls and Del Core produced two of the Trojans' three assists. Drexel had the other.
On defense, MPSF Player of the Year senior Courtney Tarleton caused two turnovers and picked up a ground ball and a draw control. In goal, sophomore Gussie Johns had four saves, caused a turnover, and picked up three ground balls. Sophomore defender Lydia Sutton and senior midfielder Kelsey Dreyer each had two ground balls.
For the Cardinal, Allie DaCar produced 14 saves in the cage. On offense, Anna Salemo had two goals, while Dillon Schoen, Laura Klein, and Alex Poplawski each had one. Meg Lentz had two caused turnovers, two ground balls, and a pair of caused turnovers to lead the Stanford defense.
USC opened up a 3-0 lead to start the game. It took just two and a half minutes for the Trojans to get on the board as deLyra shot low to the right for the goal. Michael pushed USC ahead, 2-0, when she bounced a shot past DaCar from the eight-meter arc. Methodical and patient, the USC offense waited for an opening and took it when Drexel dodged into the arc to put a shot past DaCar for the 3-0 advantage.
It took little time for Stanford to respond. 20 seconds after the USC goal, Salemo went on her own and scored to give the Cardinal its first scratch. Two minutes later, Schoen earned a free-position attempt and took a shot to score and trim the lead to a single goal at 3-2. Johansen extended USC back to a two-point lead when she dodged into the arc and scored for the 4-2 lead at 11:06. The Trojans held on to the two-goal lead thanks to a pair of big saves from Johns, including one on a free-position shot, but the Cardinal scored a man-up goal when Myers hit Salemo for the pass with 2:07 left on the clock. Michael won the next draw and the Trojans set up their offense. Del Core earned the free-position at 1:12 and went low to score and make the USC lead, 5-3, entering half time.
The Trojans' disruption of a Cardinal clear attempt allowed Dreyer to scoop up a ground ball. The ball found its way to Del Core who hit Michael in stride for the shot and goal less than 90 seconds into the second half for a 6-3 lead. Stanford survived three USC free-position attempts including with three saves by DaCar to stay within three down to the 16-minute mark. Following a successful clear, Stanford brought the Trojans back to within two as Klein's free-position shot trickled across the line for the goal at 15:11.
The teams went back and forth for more than 12 minutes before a stop on the defensive end allowed the Trojans to settle into an offense under the three-minute mark. Michael, with the ball at the top of the 12-meter fan, made a move to free herself from her defender, went to goal and shot high for the Trojans' seventh goal and a three-goal lead with 2:40 left to play. The Cardinal won the next draw, but the Women of Troy forced another turnover with under two minutes to go and cleared the ball. deLyra got the ball behind the goal, came in front and put three stick fakes on DaCar to score high and give USC its 8-4 lead. Stanford scored one more goal but Michael secured the final draw to allow the Trojans to run the clock out and finish the 8-5 victory.
Tarleton was named the tournament's most valuable player and was a member of the MPSF All-Tournament team along with deLyra, Dreyer, and Johansen.
The Women of Troy now await seeding and placement in the 26-team 2016 NCAA tournament. Selections will be announced on NCAA.com on Sunday, May 8, at 6 p.m. PT. The championship tournament begins on the weekend of May 13 and will conclude the weekend of May 27 in Philadelphia, Pa.
For more information on the USC women's lacrosse team, please visit USCTrojans.com. Fans of the Women of Troy can follow the team on Instagram and on Twitter @USCTrojansLax.
GAME NOTES
- USC improves to 19-0, continuing the program's best start to a season, and sets a new MPSF record for consecutive victories. The 19 wins are also the most in league history by a team in a single season, tied with Denver's 19 wins in 2014.
- The Women of Troy won their first MPSF Tournament and league title, and will receive the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. USC will play in its second consecutive NCAA tournament.
- USC became the first team to go through both the regular season and the MPSF tournament undefeated.
- The Trojans remain one of just two undefeated teams in the nation (No. 1 Maryland, 17-0).
- USC improved to 3-3 all-time against Stanford.
- The Trojans won their second game at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium and improved to 2-2 in the stadium. The Trojans previously lost there to Stanford in 2013 and 2015.
- Head coach Lindsey Munday won her 50th-career game.
- USC held its 17th opponent under 10 goals in 19 games this season.
- Junior attacker Cynthia Del Core logged a career-high two assists.
- Junior attacker Michaela Michael scored her 63rd goal of the season, which ties for sixth (with herself) in MPSF single-season history. Her 92 points this season rank sixth in MPSF single-season history. Michael scored the 25th hat trick game of her career.
- Michael's 95 draw controls are third all-time in MPSF single-season history. The only two players above her are herself (2015, 123 DC) and Amanda Johansen (2013, 100 DC).
- Senior defender Courtney Tarleton's 47th caused turnover of the season ranks second in MPSF single-season history (Kate Heinrich, Denver: 70 in 2013).
