No. 21 USC Lacrosse Stifles the Stanford Offense on Senior Day At McAlister Field

Sunday, April 9

Los Angeles, Calif.

12:00 PM

USC

11-3, 6-1Pac-12

Stanford

7-6, 5-2Pac-12

Stanford

USC

Photo by: John McGillen

No. 21 USC Lacrosse Stifles the Stanford Offense on Senior Day At McAlister Field

April 09, 2023 | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score Highlights

The Trojans held the Cardinal to a season-low seven goals, as the defense dominated Stanford in a 10-7 victory

LOS ANGELES - The 21st-ranked USC squad (11-3, 6-1 Pac-12) utilized the momentum from senior day and a stellar defensive scheme to push past Stanford (7-6, 5-2 Pac-12) and stand still at the top of the Pac-12 standings after a 10-7 victory on Apr. 9 at McAlister Field.

KEY PLAYERS:

On senior day, all the seniors got involved and posted multiple stats in the victory. Graduate transfer Emma Wightman led the defense with four caused turnovers and four groundballs. Senior Olivia Dooley grabbed two of her own with two caused turnovers and two groundballs. Senior Danielle Carson and graduate student Katie Ramsay also helped in the defense categories, with Carson grabbing two groundballs and Ramsay forcing one turnover, picking up a groundball and gathering three draw controls.
On the offensive side, senior Sloane Murphy contributed one goal and picked up one groundball, and senior Ella Heaney picked up two groundballs in the offensive end.
Outside of the seniors, several other players had a massive game, such as redshirt sophomore Isabelle Vitale. Vitale posted five total points with a hat trick. Today's hat gave her five for the season, putting her tenth in school history with 12 for her career. Junior Claudia Shevitz also provided a hat trick, which puts her at three for the season and eight for her career. Shevitz also helped in the circle, as she tied Ramsay for the most draw controls with three.
Junior goalie Kait Devir had a terrific day between the pipes, as she only allowed seven goals and matched that number with seven saves.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Heading into the battle, Stanford was fresh off a season-high 22 goals scored against Arizona State. However, USC was unafraid, as its defense was prepared for a vengeful battle. The defense was almost the entire story of the game, as they allowed the Cardinal to score a season-low seven goals in the outing. From the get-go, it was obvious that this would be the headlining narrative, as USC surrendered only three goals by halftime.
In the second quarter of action, the tables were turned for both squads, as Stanford entered the quarter with a 2-1 advantage. USC would take control in the middle part of the second, as it scored three goals in a little over three minutes, as sophomore Maddie Dora got the ball rolling at 7:33 and junior Shelby Tilton finished the stretch at 4:29. Stanford would provide their own three-goal stretch starting in the second and ending in the third to take its lead back and make it 5-4.
The Cardinal would lead four separate times in the showcase, with the final moment happening at 6:07 in the third. After that moment, it was USC's game to lose, despite trailing 6-5. The Women of Troy, starting at 4:17 in the third, ended the game on a 5-1 stretch. In that stretch, Vitale scored twice as she hosted the game's last goal at 6:47 in the fourth.
One of the biggest storylines that completely switched the narrative of the last game was the number of draw controls in this game compared to at Stanford. On the road, USC lost in the circle 25 times and only won six draw controls. The Trojans did not own the statistic this time but minimized the damage as they lost 11 and won ten.

UP NEXT:
The Trojans hit the road for one of the final stretches of the season as they take on Colorado at 3 p.m. Friday (Apr. 14) in Boulder, Col., and Oregon at noon Sunday (Apr. 16) in Eugene, Ore.

GAME NOTES:

In the third quarter, Wightman claimed her third caused turnover, which gave her 100 career-caused turnovers (74 at Florida, 26 at USC).
USC broke a four-game win streak from the Cardinal in the all-time series, as Stanford leads 10-9 all-time.
The Trojans finished out the season undefeated at home (8-0); this is the fourth time in program history they finished the season undefeated at home (2017, 16, and 15).
USC finished out its season at a plus-69 goal differential at home.
USC improves to 40-8 in conference home games (20-5 Pac-12; 18-3 MPSF)
The Trojans are 37-11 all-time in Pac-12 games.
USC is now 65-15 all-time at McAlister Field.
The Trojans are now 107-18 versus unranked opponents.
Stanford's seven goals, is the least amount of goals they have scored against USC since May 1, 2016.