No. 13 USC Lacrosse Ruins Aztecs in Season Opener

Saturday, February 13

San Diego, Calif.

2:00 PM

USC

1-0

San Diego State

0-1

USC

San Diego State

Photo by: Derrick Tuskan/SDSU Athletics

No. 13 USC Lacrosse Ruins Aztecs in Season Opener

February 13, 2021 | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score Final Stats Highlights

The Women of Troy won their sixth straight season opener on a 20-6 victory over San Diego State

SAN DIEGO – The 13th-ranked USC lacrosse team (1-0) delivered a dominating 20-6 victory over San Diego State (0-1) to open the 2021 season at Aztec Lacrosse Field on Saturday, Feb. 13. The Women of Troy won their sixth straight season opener and held the Aztecs to just one goal over the final 36 minutes of play.

KEY PLAYERS

Sr. attacker Sophia Donovan had seven points (4g, 3a) to lead all players with her eighth-career hat trick. She moves into a tie for 11th with Kaeli Huff (2017-20) for career hat tricks at USC and added a ground ball and caused a turnover.
So. attacker Ella Heaney scored four goals for her first-career hat-trick game and became the 25th Trojan to record at least one such game in her career.
Sr. goalie Riley Hertford went wire-to-wire for her 23rd-career win and finished with five saves and a caused turnover.
Sr. attackers Kelsey Huff and Izzy McMahon each scored two goals and Jr. midfielder Michaela McMahon also had two goals to go with two assists in her first action as a Trojan.
Gr. attacker Maddie McDaniel snagged 13 draw controls and caused one turnover in her first action with USC.
For the Aztecs, Lexi Tan scored two goals including the first of the game. Katy Sharretts played all 60 minutes and put up 10 saves. Four other players had goals for San Diego State while Bailey Brown had five draw controls.

HOW IT HAPPENED

San Diego State's Tan scored the first goal just 24 seconds into the game and scored again to give the Aztecs a 4-2 lead with just under 20 minutes to halftime. The Trojans responded with a 6-1 scoring run with goals from Huff, Donovan, Heaney, Katie Ramsay, and the McMahons, to lead by three at halftime, 8-5.
The Trojans held SDSU scoreless for more than 20 minutes as they extended their run to nine unanswered goals for a 14-5 lead. The Aztecs stopped the bleeding on a goal from Arielle Shahrabani, but the Trojans started the running clock on a fourth goal by Heaney with 12:39 left to play.
USC allowed just one San Diego State goal over the final 36:40 of the game to close the books on a big 14-goal victory.

UP NEXT

USC heads to the East Coast for games at New Hampshire (Feb. 24, 2:30 p.m. ET) and Boston College (Feb. 26, 12:30 p.m. ET). The Women of Troy are 14-15 all-time in games played in the Eastern Time zone and last claimed a 9-8 win over Hofstra in Hempstead, N.Y., to open the 2020 season (Feb. 8).

MATCH NOTES

USC improved to 10-0 all-time against San Diego State (5-0 on the road) and upped its average margin of victory over the Aztecs to +9.00 goals per game. The 14-goal margin equaled the previous high: a 20-6 home win on April 2, 2016.
The Trojans improved to 6-3 all-time in season openers and have now won six straight season openers. USC also improved to 6-3 in all-time road openers.
USC moved to 79-12 all-time against unranked opponents.
Including 2020's final record of 6-0, the Trojans have now won seven straight games.

All USC women's lacrosse competitions will be conducted in accordance with the Pac-12 COVID-19 Medical Advisory Committee health and safety recommendations and guidelines, available at Pac-12.com/health. 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.