No. 17 USC Lacrosse Claims 15-8 Win Over Colorado

BOULDER, Colo. – The 17th-ranked USC lacrosse team (10-3, 6-2 Pac-12) walked away with a 15-8 win over Colorado (9-4, 4-4) at Kittredge Field on Friday, April 15.
 
KEY PLAYERS

• Jr. attacker Ella Heaney matched her career high with seven points on four goals and three assists. She registered her fourth hat trick of the season and the 10th of her career to move into a tie for 10th all-time in program history.
• Redshirt Fr. attacker Isabelle Vitale registered five points with three goals and two assists. It was her fifth-career hat trick.
• So. attacker Shelby Tilton scored three goals to log her sixth-career hat trick and picked up a pair of ground balls.
• So. midfielder Madison Waters scored two goals.
• Fr. midfielder Catherine Lord reeled in eight draw controls and picked up one ground ball.
• Sr. defender Kaleigh Brennan had three ground balls and caused two turnovers.
• In goal, Jr. goalie Kait Devir had eight saves and picked up a ground ball for her 10th-career victory. 
• For Colorado, Sadie Grozier scored four goals and picked up four ground balls. Charlie Rudy scored two goals. In goal, Grace Donnelly had 12 saves and three ground balls. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• USC outshot Colorado, 36-26, and won the center circle by a 16-11 margin for draw controls. The Trojans also edged the Buffaloes, 16-14, in ground balls.
• Vitale, Tilton, and Sr. midfielder Katie Ramsay scored the game's first three goals as USC held Colorado scoreless through the first 14:31 to win the first quarter, 3-1.
• USC dominated the center circle and won eight draws in the second quarter. Sr. midfielder Michaela McMahon, Tilton, and Heaney racked up four goals to blow open a 7-1 Trojan lead halfway through the frame. The Buffs answered back with a pair of goals before Waters and So. attacker Maggie Brown put the Trojans back in front by six, 9-3. Rudy scored her second goal with just over one minute to play to draw CU within five at the break, 9-4.
• Colorado scored the first two goals of the second half to close the gap to just three goals, 9-6, but USC put up another 4-0 scoring run to lead by seven. This time, Waters and Vitale scored the last two of the third quarter and then Vitale and Heaney scored the first two of the fourth.
• Tilton and Heaney added two more goals in the fourth quarter as USC built a lead as large as eight goals, 15-7. Grozier scored the final goal with just under two minutes left on the clock to make the final margin, 15-8, for the Trojans.

UP NEXT

• USC heads to the Pacific Northwest to face Oregon (3-11, 1-7) on Easter Sunday (April 17) in Eugene, Ore. The Trojans and Ducks will be shown live on Pac-12 Networks. 

GAME NOTES

• USC improved to 10-5 all-time against Colorado and got the 2-0 regular season sweep of the Buffaloes for the first time. The Women of Troy improved to 3-3 against the Buffs when the teams meet in Boulder.
• The Trojans' seven-goal margin of victory is the second largest in series history behind only a nine-goal win (12-3) by USC in the 2019 Pac-12 Championship Game (April 28, 2019, in Eugene, Ore.).
• The Women of Troy moved to 81-23 in games played when they are ranked.
• USC improved to 70-2 all-time in games when it scores 15 goals or more.

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.