No. 22 USC Opens Pac-12 Play at Arizona State

LOS ANGELES – No. 22-ranked USC lacrosse (4-1) opens its Pac-12 schedule with a trip to the desert where it will face Arizona State (2-2) on Friday, March 8, in Tempe, Ariz., and then hosts No. 24 Virginia Tech (4-3) for a non-conference tilt at McAlister Field on Sunday, March 10. The Women of Troy have won six consecutive conference openers and have won each of their first two games at home this season. USC is 37-10 all-time at McAlister Field and will face only its second ranked foe of the spring when the Hokies visit Los Angeles.

GANE #6 • Friday, March 8 • 5 p.m. MT (4 p.m. PT)
No. 22 USC (4-1) at Arizona State (2-1)
Sun Devil Soccer Stadium • Tempe, Ariz.
SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 3-0 (1.000) • STREAK: W3
LAST MEETING: W, 19-7 (Apr. 26, 2018 • Boulder, Colo.)
STREAM: Pac-12+ ASU Stream
OPPONENT WEB: TheSunDevils.com

Game #7 • Sunday, March 10 • 12 p.m. PT
No. 22 USC (4-1) vs. No. 24 Virginia Tech (4-3)
McAlister Field • Los Angeles, Calif.
SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 1-0 (1.000) • STREAK: W1
LAST MEETING: W, 11-5 (Feb. 10, 2018 • Blacksburg, Va.)
STREAM: Pac-12+ USC Stream
OPPONENT WEB: HokieSports.com

CROSSExamination

USC is ranked No. 22 in the IWLCA coaches poll; the 45th consecutive week that the Trojans are ranked in the poll.
The Trojans are 37-10 all-time at McAlister Field with a 41-12 all-time record in home games.
USC is 6-0 in all-time conference openers, which includes a 14-3 home victory over the Sun Devils in 2018.
The Trojans are 1-0 all-time in games played in the state of Arizona (2018).
Virginia Tech represents only the second ranked opponent that the Woment of Troy have faced this season. USC owns 15 all-time wins over ranked foes (15-27).
Seventh-year head coach Lindsey Munday is 83-39 all-time.

USC fields a balanced offense, which has seen eight different Trojans score at least five goals this season. The Trojans average 15 goals per contest and lead the Pac-12 in goals and shots-on-goal per game (26.8). USC ranks second among Pac-12 teams with 15.20 draw controls per game and has a .531 draw control percentage. Despite a potent offense, the Trojans are third in the Pac-12 with a plus-3.20 goals per game margin and have not held an opponent to single-digit goals; the longest run of 10-goal-games (5) by opponents in program history.

Senior attacker Emily Concialdi leads the team with 16 points (13g, 3a) and owns two of the Trojans' four game-winning goals this season. Sophomore midfielder Kelsey Huff (12g, 2a) and junior attacker Izzy McMahon (11g, 3a) each have 14 points apiece. Sophomore attacker Sophia Donovan and junior midfielder Kaeli Huff have each scored seven goals.

Defensively, sophomore goalie Riley Hertford leads the team with 22 ground balls and eight caused turnovers. Hertford holds a .402 save percentage (11.84 gaa). All-American junior midfielder Kerrigan Miller does a little of everything. Miller ranks second on the team with 17 draw controls and second for ground balls with 16. Miller has also scored eight goals on the offensive end. Senior defender Jackie Gilbert leads the Trojans in the center circle with 22 draw controls. Now in her seventh season, head coach Lindsey Munday (83-39) leads an experienced and battle-tested squad into a quest for a fourth NCAA berth.

SCOUTING REPORT - ARIZONA STATE: The Sun Devils (2-2) own wins over Kennesaw State (14-7) and Stetson (11-3) and are coming off a narrow 15-14 loss to Vanderbilt. Arizona State is led by junior attacker Kerri Clayton who has 10 points (9g, 1a) and sophomore midfielder Emily Glagolev who shares the team lead with four goals and six assists. Glagolev also shares team-high honors with junior goalie Berkeley Bonneau with 11 ground balls apiece. Freshman midfielder Kaylon Buckner leads the Devils with 10 draw controls and six caused turnovers. Bonneau has a .519 save percentage and averages 9.25 goals-against. The Trojans and Devils will meet for the fourth time. Last year, in ASU's inaugural season, USC swept the regular-season series and won, 19-7, over the Sun Devils in the Pac-12 tournament quarterfinals.

SCOUTING REPORT - NO. 24 VIRGINIA TECH: The Hokies (4-3) have won three of their last four entering the week. The only loss was an 11-10 overtime decision at ACC foe Duke on Feb. 23. Virginia Tech is led by sophomore midfielder Paige Petty who has 26 goals (4a, 30p) and is third on the team with 20 draw controls. Sophomore goalie Morgan Berman leads the team with 20 ground balls and has a .441 save percentage (9.29 gaa). In the center circle, sophomore midfielder Emma Crooks leads the Hokies with 32 draw controls. Crooks has 21 points on the season (18g, 3a). Graduate midfielder Mary Claire Byrne has scored 10 goals and has 18 ground balls with a team-high 12 caused turnovers. The Trojans' only previous meeting with the Hokies was the 2018 season opener where USC prevailed with an 11-5 road victory in Blacksburg, Va.

TRACK THE TROJANS: For a behind-the-scenes look, fans of USC lacrosse can follow the Trojans on Twitter and Instagram at @USCTrojansLax. USC will appear in four live Pac-12 Networks broadcasts this spring. Home games against Stanford (Mar. 25), Colorado (Apr. 5), and Oregon (Apr. 7); and a road game at Stanford (Mar. 31) will be shown on the Networks' national and regional channels. Pac-12 tournament games will also be carried on the network's channels. All non-broadcast league games will be shown on the Pac-12+ stream platform.

LAST TIME OUT: The Women of Troy split games in a visit to the Bay State. USC found itself within two goals of No. 1-ranked Boston College late in the game, but fell to the Eagles, 12-9, in a hard-fought battle. The match-up was only the second time the Trojans have met the No. 1 team in the nation; the first was an 18-5 loss to Northwestern on Feb. 9, 2013, in the program's inaugural game, played at the LA Memorial Coliseum. Three Trojans scored two goals apiece against BC and the team out-shot the Eagles, won the draw circle, and had more ground balls, but couldn't overcome the firepower of the BC offense. Two days later, USC earned the road split and produced the program's first-ever win in the state of Massachusetts with a 16-11 win over Boston University. Kelsey Huff and Kaeli Huff scored four goals apiece and Izzy McMahon had three goals and four draw controls in the victory. The split weekend kept the Trojans at .500 in games played on the East Coast with a 13-13 record.

HOME, SWEET HOME: The Women of Troy are 41-12 all-time in home games and are 37-10 at McAlister Field. Between 2015 and 2018, the Trojans won 23 straight games on McAlister Field. Including two wins at the LA Memorial Coliseum, USC claimed 25 consecutive home victories during the impressive streak.

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Players Mentioned

Emily Concialdi

Sophia Donovan

Jackie Gilbert

Riley Hertford

Kaeli Huff

Kelsey Huff

Izzy McMahon

Kerrigan Miller