Written by Max Holm, USC blog contributor
USC Lacrosse Coach Lindsey Munday:The biggest thing we wanted to do was recruit leaders, people who could and would buy into this vision that we had for the program here and that's not an easy task.
USC Attacker Caroline deLyra: I was recruited to Northwestern when Lindsey was working there, so as soon as she got the job at USC I automatically reached out to her and got a response. Being a part of something new sounded really appealing to me, so that's the reason I decided to take this path.
USC Defender Courtney Tarleton: I remember my mom showed me the article in Lacrosse Magazine that USC was announcing a program. She said I should definitely reach out to them. When you're going to an established program it takes a few years to get into those starting lineups. We all had the opportunity to start as freshmen and I think that's really fun.
USC Midfielder Amanda Johansen: I definitely wanted to be part of a program that built itself from the bottom up. Any of us could have gone to a program that was established at the time, but I thought it was cool to think of beating those programs that were established and become a new powerhouse.
Munday (a former Northwestern star and alumnus): We started out playing one of the top programs in the country in Northwestern. We didn't want just a game to win. We wanted to show the girls where we needed to be, where we wanted to be and where we could be in a short time.
Tarleton: That game taught us a lot and showed us how fast the college game really is because we had never played a top opponent until then.
Munday: A week in I told them, "No more being freshmen. We can't have it. You guys have to play older, act older." We really held them to the standard of a Top 5 program even back then, because we knew what it was going to take. We knew the standards we had to hold them to no matter what, even though they were young. We never relied on the fact that we were a young program.
Tarleton: It was really nice having a big class - 26 total players and 17 freshmen - because it gave you so many different outlets to reach out to. We've just stayed so close over these four years. I think we were really fortunate to have so many people along for the ride.
deLyra: Our first year was pretty much a lot of learning and a lot of coach involvement about what we needed to do. We were basically told as freshmen that we were going to be treated like seniors and held to the same standards as if we were here four years ago.
Munday: As a freshman coming in, you're scared, scared of college lacrosse, and you don't know what to expect. It's really hard to lead your peers, which is what all these players had to do at times. There were definitely hard parts with our youth, but also in holding each other accountable because it's easy for a senior to tell the freshmen and sophomores what to do and what the rules are. But we didn't have that. Once everyone could take a point of accountability themselves and be okay with being told what to do in a positive way, that was the turning point.
Johansen: On the field it was definitely a lot of learning, but off the field it was as well. From where we started to where we ended it's kind of crazy where our friendships have come, how we've all grown together, which is really cool to look at. I think we all look back as to how it was freshman year versus how it is now, and it's crazy to see that transition.
deLyra: I think that when we were freshmen we still had really high expectations. I remember our first day of practice we all had to say a goal that we had, and we all pretty much had the same one: to make it to the Final 4 and be national champions.
Munday: We have lots of stories about the early days, of them just being young and not knowing anything. There were no older players to tell them what to do, to tell them that it's okay to have water and then take a breath before you come back from a drill. It takes a special kind of person to weather those early storms. You're going to go through some rough patches, both on the field and off. So to be able to have these players who stuck it through, who stayed positive and stayed together, their chemistry is just off the charts because they did go through all those things together and needed to rely on one another.
Before 2013, there was no women's lacrosse team at USC. That year, everything changed. It was up to 18 brave women to turn down established programs and create a new tradition as Trojans. Starting from scratch, this group dreamed of what they could accomplish in their careers in Cardinal & Gold. Four years later, as they celebrate Senior Day and aim for an undefeated regular season, three members of USC's inaugural class look back on their experience and program they've helped create.
USC Lacrosse Coach Lindsey Munday:The biggest thing we wanted to do was recruit leaders, people who could and would buy into this vision that we had for the program here and that's not an easy task.
USC Attacker Caroline deLyra: I was recruited to Northwestern when Lindsey was working there, so as soon as she got the job at USC I automatically reached out to her and got a response. Being a part of something new sounded really appealing to me, so that's the reason I decided to take this path.
USC Defender Courtney Tarleton: I remember my mom showed me the article in Lacrosse Magazine that USC was announcing a program. She said I should definitely reach out to them. When you're going to an established program it takes a few years to get into those starting lineups. We all had the opportunity to start as freshmen and I think that's really fun.
USC Midfielder Amanda Johansen: I definitely wanted to be part of a program that built itself from the bottom up. Any of us could have gone to a program that was established at the time, but I thought it was cool to think of beating those programs that were established and become a new powerhouse.
The class had high aspirations, but much work lay ahead to reach the upper echelon of the country's fastest-growing sport. USC opened the 2013 season against No. 1 Northwestern. The Trojans lost, 18-5.
Munday (a former Northwestern star and alumnus): We started out playing one of the top programs in the country in Northwestern. We didn't want just a game to win. We wanted to show the girls where we needed to be, where we wanted to be and where we could be in a short time.
Tarleton: That game taught us a lot and showed us how fast the college game really is because we had never played a top opponent until then.
Munday: A week in I told them, "No more being freshmen. We can't have it. You guys have to play older, act older." We really held them to the standard of a Top 5 program even back then, because we knew what it was going to take. We knew the standards we had to hold them to no matter what, even though they were young. We never relied on the fact that we were a young program.
Tarleton: It was really nice having a big class - 26 total players and 17 freshmen - because it gave you so many different outlets to reach out to. We've just stayed so close over these four years. I think we were really fortunate to have so many people along for the ride.
deLyra: Our first year was pretty much a lot of learning and a lot of coach involvement about what we needed to do. We were basically told as freshmen that we were going to be treated like seniors and held to the same standards as if we were here four years ago.
Munday: As a freshman coming in, you're scared, scared of college lacrosse, and you don't know what to expect. It's really hard to lead your peers, which is what all these players had to do at times. There were definitely hard parts with our youth, but also in holding each other accountable because it's easy for a senior to tell the freshmen and sophomores what to do and what the rules are. But we didn't have that. Once everyone could take a point of accountability themselves and be okay with being told what to do in a positive way, that was the turning point.
Johansen: On the field it was definitely a lot of learning, but off the field it was as well. From where we started to where we ended it's kind of crazy where our friendships have come, how we've all grown together, which is really cool to look at. I think we all look back as to how it was freshman year versus how it is now, and it's crazy to see that transition.
deLyra: I think that when we were freshmen we still had really high expectations. I remember our first day of practice we all had to say a goal that we had, and we all pretty much had the same one: to make it to the Final 4 and be national champions.
Munday: We have lots of stories about the early days, of them just being young and not knowing anything. There were no older players to tell them what to do, to tell them that it's okay to have water and then take a breath before you come back from a drill. It takes a special kind of person to weather those early storms. You're going to go through some rough patches, both on the field and off. So to be able to have these players who stuck it through, who stayed positive and stayed together, their chemistry is just off the charts because they did go through all those things together and needed to rely on one another.
Through inevitable growing pains, the Trojans blossomed year by year. In 2013, they went 8-10. The following season they improved to 9-9. In 2015, the Women of Troy finished 14-6, placed second in the MPSF Tournament, and made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. This year, the talented group hasn't lost a game.
Tarleton: I think the biggest thing that's changed for all of us is the confidence factor. Our freshman year, every single game we had this nothing to lose mentality. The next year, as sophomores, it was that realization that, "Okay we can play with these guys". Last year and this year we had to realize that teams could actually be afraid of us finally. I think playing with that confidence has helped our game and made us more of a threat as a team.
Johansen: I think every year we got more dynamic and added new threats. Honestly, the confidence has always been there, but it's just been enhanced by our performance every year. We've always known that we could be a really good program, it was just a matter of getting everyone else on board to look at us as a top program. I think after these few years, and especially after this season, people are finally looking at us and thinking, "Wow, they are good." And that's giving us confidence.
deLyra: Now that it's senior year and now that it's something we can actually grasp, being a Top 4 or 5 team, we're the top dogs now and it only took us four years to get here. We're just going all out in every single game. Every game is a huge game for us. There's no let down.
Munday:I think right now they're having fun. They're having a lot of fun together. They care about each other a lot, but they're also finding the balance of working hard. When we were younger, we could either have fun and not play that well or we were working hard and being super serious. I think the best teams find the balance. That takes a little bit of growth and maturity to do that. They're having a blast on the sidelines, at practice, at games they're playing loose, but now can hold themselves to a standard where they're not happy when they don't play their best, even if we do get a win. In the past it was the coaches who had to do that. That's our identity. They're so tight, they're competing and they're having a really good time doing it.
While some of these seniors best memories are yet to be made, they are in a consensus of what's been the best part of their journey on the field so far.
Munday: It's an easy sort of pattern because we played Northwestern for four years. Early on, the gaps were really big. Coming off of a big win last Friday, that game for the girls was big. Since Northwestern was the first game they ever played, being able to get a win in their final year against a top-quality opponent just really showed them where we've come. We've come full-circle.
deLyra: One of the best moments for me this year was beating Northwestern. My sister went there so whenever we played them it was always a really big game. I was really proud of how our team came out [this year]. They couldn't stop anyone. That was really cool.
Tarleton: I'd have to agree with Caro [De Lyra]. Beating Northwestern was a high point because our first game ever was against them and that was one of our lowest points. So coming full-circle finally over four years, and finally beating them our senior year was the best. Also, I'd say we overcame playing scared. I can't pinpoint what game, but practically our whole freshman year we played scared. I think we've gotten over that and it shows in the results of our games.
Johansen: I completely agree. Not because it was our best game, even though I think we all played great, but because it showed the growth of our program. We had played them the first game of our season every year. First we got crushed. Then we got a little bit closer. Last year we should have won. And then this year we finally beat them. It solidifies the whole journey we've had.
Munday:That was a really special game for them. I don't think you ever forget your first college lacrosse game. We played in the Coliseum in front of all these people. You don't forget that. So now senior year, it's a full-circle game where we came out on top and could hang with them. I think it was really cool, special and emotional for this senior class to actually be able to see a clear cut progression from them winning by a lot to getting closer and closer and getting over the hump.
On Sunday, the Women of Troy face UC Davis in the final regular season game of 2016 (12 p.m., McAlister Field). At 16-0, the Trojans have the potential to do something unthinkable for most outsiders just three years ago. For the members of this unique team, it was all a part of the plan.
Munday: Honestly, from the very beginning of this program, what we talk about every day is getting better. We want to get better from the day before, the practice before, and the game before. We're not talking about being undefeated, we're just really trying to focus on the next game. We just need to be present, continue to get better and focus on the task at hand because it really doesn't matter what you've done so far if you don't produce on game day. But it's really a cool thing to see your hard work pay off. It's also a cool thing to know we're not at our peak yet with a lot of our season to go.
