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USC Lacrosse Meets Cavaliers to Open NCAA Tournament Run

by usctrojans.com
May 12, 2022

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The 18th-ranked USC lacrosse team (13-4) was awarded one of 14 at-large berths into the 2022 NCAA Tournament and will make its fifth appearance in the national tourney. The Trojans face 16th-ranked Virginia from the Atlantic Coast Conference (9-9, 3-5) in the first round on Friday, May 13, in Chapel Hill, N.C., at 9 a.m. PT/Noon ET, airing live on ESPN+. 
 
The winner of the first-round game will advance to take on top-seeded No. 1-ranked North Carolina (18-0, 8-0 ACC) in the second round on Sunday, May 15, at 9 a.m. PT/Noon ET, also on ESPN+. USC is the only West Coast team ever to reach the NCAA quarterfinal round (2016, '17) and was the first to host NCAA tournament games in 2016 as the fifth seed. The Trojans are 4-4 all-time in tournament games and last made the tourney in 2019.

2022 NCAA LACROSSE TOURNAMENT • 1st & 2nd ROUNDS
Dorrance Field • Chapel Hill, N.C.

GAME #18 • Friday, May 13 • 9 a.m. PT (Noon ET)
No. 18 USC (13-4) vs. No. 16 Virginia (9-9)
Dorrance Field • Chapel Hill, N.C.
SERIES HISTORY: First Meeting
LIVE STREAM/TV: ESPN+ (Ben George)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: VirginiaSports.com

CROSSExamination

  • USC makes its fifth appearance in the NCAA tournament; its first since 2019. The Trojans are 4-4 all-time in tourney games.
  • USC is ranked 18th in the ILWomen/IWLCA Top 25 poll this week.
  • The Trojans are 84-24 (.778) when they are ranked in the poll.
  • USC is 1-1 all-time in the state of North Carolina. It played in the Tar Heel State in its first NCAA tournament in 2015. The Trojans beat James Madison in the first round and lost to Duke in the second.
  • Seven different Trojans have led the team in scoring with nine players in double-digit goals this season, including four over the 30-goal mark.
  • USC has scored at least 11 goals in every game this season and ranks second in the Pac-12 in scoring offense at 15.41 goals per game.
  • USC leads the Pac-12 in caused turnovers (10.12 ctpg), scoring margin (+4.65 gpg), and goals-against average (10.76 gaa).
  • Kelsey Huff was named the Pac-12 Midfielder of the Year for the second straight season and Olivia Dooley was picked for Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year.
  • Huff, Dooley, and Kaleigh Brennan were selected to the All-Pac-12 first team. Lizzy Wagner, Ella Heaney, Isabelle Vitale, and Shelby Tilton were chosen to the Pac-12 All-Conference second team.
  • Vitale ranks sixth in the Pac-12 for points (67) and leads USC with 33 assists. She was named to the ILWomen Midseason Top 15 Freshmen to Watch.
  • Brennan and Wagner lead the Pac-12 in caused turnovers (1.29 ctpg).
  • 10th-year head coach Lindsey Munday is 123-53 all-time (.699).

The Trojans won a share of the Pac-12's regular-season title but were eliminated in a hard-fought 13-12 decision at Arizona State in the league's tournament semifinals. Kelsey Huff was named the Pac-12's Midfielder of the Year for the second time and Olivia Dooley was tabbed the Defensive Player of the Year to lead a group of seven Women of Troy named to Pac-12 All-Conference teams.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The second-seeded Trojans fell to third-seed tournament host Arizona State, 13-12, in the Pac-12 tournament semifinals. Madison Waters led USC with four goals for her sixth-career hat trick and Claudia Shevitz scored three for her fifth hat trick of the season. Kait Devir produced eight saves against the Sun Devils' 30 shots, but ASU's three-goal run late in the fourth quarter was the difference. USC had a season-high four-game win streak snapped in the loss. 
 
TOURNAMENT TIME: USC has appeared in five NCAA tournaments (2015-17, '19, '22). In 2016, USC became the first-ever West Coast team to host NCAA games as the fifth seed. That same year (and again in 2017), the Trojans became the first West Coast team to advance to the NCAA quarterfinals. USC fell to Syracuse in an overtime game in 2016 and was eliminated by Boston College in 2017. The Trojans last played an NCAA tourney game in 2019, when they fell to Denver in a first-round overtime game played in Ann Arbor, Mich. USC is 4-4 all-time in NCAA tournament games.
 
PRIZE OF THE PAC: Graduate Kelsey Huff was chosen as the Pac-12 Midfielder of the Year (second time in her career) and junior Olivia Dooley was picked as the Pac-12's Defensive Player of the Year to headline a group of seven Trojans tabbed for All-Pac-12 teams. The two were joined by senior defender Kaleigh Brennan on the first team. Junior attacker Ella Heaney, sophomore attacker Shelby Tilton, redshirt freshman attacker Isabelle Vitale, and graduate defender Lizzy Wagner were all chosen to the Pac-12 All-Conference second team. USC has produced 23 All-Pac-12 players with 13 first-team choices and 10 second-team players.
 

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