No. 15 USC Lacrosse Drops Overtime Thriller to Cardinal

STANFORD, Calif. – The 15th-ranked USC lacrosse team (6-2, 3-1 Pac-12) was defeated by Bay Area rival Stanford (5-4, 3-0) on a golden-goal effort, 15-14, in overtime at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium on Sunday, March 20. The teams played to a one-goal decision for the ninth time in 16 meetings and for the sixth straight game.
 
KEY PLAYERS

• So. attacker Shelby Tilton posted her fourth-career hat trick and finished with three goals and two ground balls.
• Fellow So. attacker Maggie Brown became the 31st Trojan in program history to record a hat trick and had three goals—all in the second half—on just four shots.
• Gr. midfielder Kelsey Huff scored two goals—including the game-tying goal with 10 seconds to play—and had two assists for four points and three ground balls.
• Redshirt Fr. attacker Isabelle Vitale scored a goal and dished out two assists.
• Fr. midfielder Catherine Lord grabbed a career-high nine draw controls with two ground balls and a caused turnover.
• For Stanford, six different players scored two goals apiece. Annabel Frist had seven draw controls with two goals and an assist. Ashley Humphrey led all players with seven points on five assists and two goals. In goal, Kara Rahaim stood up nearly half the Trojans' shots for 19 saves and had four ground balls.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Trojans outshot the Cardinal by a 40-22 count. The teams played to a stalemate in the center circle with 16 draw controls each and were dead even with 25 ground balls on each side. 
• USC was dominant in the opening frame as the Trojans peppered the Cardinal netminder with 13 shots. Despite the offensive barrage and goals from Ella Heaney, Maddie Dora, and Claudia Shevitz, USC's 3-0 lead to open the game was reduced to a slim 3-2 lead after one quarter. 
• The Trojans went ahead by as many as three goals at 5-2, but Stanford replied to stay within one of the Women of Troy at the halftime break, 6-5, after Frist scored with just 14 seconds left in the second quarter. 
• USC stepped in front by two goals by scoring first to open the second half, but Stanford reeled off a 4-0 run to claim a 9-7 lead. The Cardinal went on top by two goals again at 10-8 with less than 90 seconds to play in the third quarter. Brown scored off a pass from Katie Ramsay with 34 seconds to play and then scored again 20 seconds later to tie the score at 10-all. The Women of Troy won the next draw and did the unthinkable as Madison Waters scored at the buzzer on a pass from Heaney to make it three USC goals in the span of 35 seconds to go up, 11-10, heading into the fourth. 
• The teams went goal-for-goal in the fourth quarter, but Stanford went on top, 14-12, late. Tilton scored her third with 1:36 to play to bring the Trojans within a goal at 14-13 and then Huff pulled the trigger with 10 seconds to play and scored her second goal of the game to send the teams into overtime.
• In overtime, Lord won her ninth draw and the Trojans called timeout. USC had two cracks at goal but were stopped both times. The Cardinal cleared the ball and went down the field to score the game-winning goal.

UP NEXT

• USC returns home to close out the first half of Pac-12 play as host to Arizona State (4-3, 3-1 Pac-12) on Friday, March 25, at United Airlines Field at the LA Memorial Coliseum. The Women of Troy and the Sun Devils will meet at 4 p.m. PT and be streamed live on the USC Live Stream platform.

GAME NOTES

• USC fell to 8-8 all-time against Stanford and to 3-4 as the Cardinal's visitor.
• The Women of Troy drop to 12-5 all-time in games played in the Bay Area with a 4-5 mark in the city of Stanford.
• USC goes to 77-22 in games in which it is ranked.
• The Trojans and the Cardinal played to a one-goal decision for the ninth time in the series' history (the sixth consecutive game decided by one goal between the teams). USC fell to 5-4 in those games with Stanford.
• USC played in its 14th overtime game and dropped to 5-9 all-time in overtime games. It was the third overtime game played with the Cardinal (all at Stanford) as the Trojans fall to 1-2 in those meetings.

For more information on the USC women's lacrosse team, a complete schedule, and results, please visit USCTrojans.com. Fans of the Women of Troy can follow the team on Instagram and on Twitter @USCTrojansLax.