No. 15 USC Lacrosse Tames the Pride in a Dominant 15-6 Victory

Saturday, February 17

Carson, Calif.

12:00 PM

USC

3-0

Hofstra

1-1

Hofstra

USC

Photo by: John McGillen/USC Athletics

No. 15 USC Lacrosse Tames the Pride in a Dominant 15-6 Victory

February 17, 2024 | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

The Women of Troy had three players post hat tricks in the nine-goal route of Hofstra

LOS ANGELES - The 15th-ranked USC lacrosse program (3-0) bested Hofstra (1-1) 15-6 at noon on Saturday, Feb. 17, at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calf.

KEY PLAYERS:

Freshman Anna Regan continued with her impressive start to a career, taking 13 draw controls this game. In her first three games, this brings her to a total of 32 draw controls so far.
Three Women of Troy posted hat tricks in the home opener. Senior Maggie Brown had three goals, along with junior Maddie Dora. Senior Shelby Tilton ended the game with four goals. This is Brown's tenth, Dora's sixth and Tilton's 13^th hat trick for their careers.
Kait Devir allowed a mere four goals in 45 minutes of work, as she left at the start of the fourth quarter.
In the defensive effort junior Alexis Niblock and graduate student Danielle Carson led the charge, as they both posted two caused turnovers. Niblock picked up four ground balls, as USC only allowed six goals to the Pride.
Redshirt junior Isabelle Vitale added to her career tally, as she posted four assists to bring her to 78 career assists.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The first quarter saw a strong start for the Women of Troy. USC outshot Hofstra 7-3 and obtained most of the draw controls. Brown had two goals in the first, and she brought the energy with an early goal, scoring the first point of the game for the Trojans. Alongside Shevitz and Tilton, who each scored a goal, these three Women of Troy brought the Trojans to a 4-2 lead at the end of the first. Vitale supported the offensive effort with three assists in the first.
USC charged ahead in the second quarter gaining a seven-point lead, 11-3, against Hofstra. Tilton grabbed two more goals putting her at three goals in the first half. She scored both of those goals in the last five minutes of the quarter, one at 4:59 and one at 0:31. Shevitz, Dora, Ella Heaney, Brown all had goals in the second as well. Defensively the Trojans dominated, as they saw only one goal slip past them all quarter. The Women of Troy's successful effort was provided by them posting more shots on goal and more draw controls.
USC maintained a strong lead in the third quarter, scoring four more goals bringing the score to a comfortable 15-4, whereas Hofstra only added one goal to their score. Murphy showed up strong scoring her first season goal and Heaney grabbed her 11th. USC and Hofstra were relatively equal in terms of ground balls, USC had four and Hofstra had three in this quarter.
Hofstra claimed the fourth quarter as it outscored the Women of Troy 2-0, as the starters made their way to the bench. USC utilized the backups for the entirety of the fourth quarter before it eventually coasted to the 15-6 victory.

UP NEXT:
The Women of Troy are back at home next weekend to face a future Big Ten foe in #10 Michigan at noon Saturday, Feb. 24 at Dignity Sports Park in Carson, Calif.

GAME NOTES:

USC is now 114-18 against unranked teams all-time.
The Women of Troy are now 71-18 all-time in home games and are now 1-0 at Dignity Health Sports Park.
Brown recorded her tenth career hat trick, as they all have come within the past two seasons.
Regan's 13 draw controls are the 6^th most in a game for USC, and she is the first person with over 12 draw controls since Maddie McDaniel had 12 on Apr. 9, 2021.
USC is 4-0 against Hofstra, and this is the largest goal differential in series history.