No. 18 USC Lacrosse Drops Home Game to No. 3 Northwestern

Sunday, March 30

Carson, Calif.

12:00 p.m.

USC

8-4, 1-3Big Ten

Northwestern

9-2, 3-0Big Ten

Northwestern

USC

Photo by: Drake Lee

No. 18 USC Lacrosse Drops Home Game to No. 3 Northwestern

March 30, 2025 | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score Box Score

CARSON, Calif. – No. 18 USC lacrosse (8-3, 1-3 Big Ten) fell at home to No. 3 Northwestern (9-2, 3-0 Big Ten), 17-8, on Sunday, March 30 at Dignity Health Sports Park.

KEY PLAYERS:

Redshirt senior Isabelle Vitale recorded a team-high four points, posting a hat trick and adding one assist to her tally.
Senior Alexis Niblock had a game-high five ground balls and forced one turnover. Senior Lila Murray was the lone Trojan to cause two or more turnovers.
Freshman Charlotte Morton is now 1-2 on the season, as she allowed 17 goals and had ten saves in the game.
Sophomore Anna Regan recorded five draw controls, while senior Catherine Lord had two.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

USC fought back in the first half of the game, allowing the Wildcats to open the game on a 4-0 stretch within the first six minutes. After 9:17, the defense would take over as the Women of Troy would not allow the No. 3 team in the country to score for the next 16 minutes and 14 seconds. During that span, the Trojans would go on a 4-0 run with four players scoring – Vitale, senior Maddie Dora, sophomore Emma Bunting and freshman Kaylee Fravert. This run would go from 4:50 in the first and finalize at 8:55 in the second quarter. Following that initial string of runs, Northwestern would outscore USC 4-1 and go up 8-5 at the half.
The second half would start in a near stalemate as the Trojans scored two and the Wildcats posted three in the third quarter. The slowing of the score can be drawn back to the success of the goalies, as Northwestern had four and USC had three in the quarter. Morton had posted seven saves in just the second and third, as she had zero in the first.
So far this conference season, USC has struggled in the fourth, as after today, they are being outscored 18-5 in the final quarter. Today was the most significant contribution as the Trojans were outscored in the fourth 6-1, making the final score 17-8.

UP NEXT:
The Women of Troy will host their fifth-straight ranked matchup as they take on now-No. 6 Maryland starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Apr. 5, at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif.

GAME NOTES:

The Trojans 2-5 against Northwestern and 0-3 at home.
USC is 31-46 all-time against ranked opponents, and 3-14 against teams in the top five. The Trojans are 1-3 against IWLCA-ranked teams this season.
USC is 22-12 all-time versus current Big Ten teams and are 1-3 in conference play.