No. 16 USC Lacrosse Stays Perfect on East Coast with Win over Towson

Friday, March 1

Towson, Md.

3:00 PM

USC

4-1

Towson

1-3

USC

TOWSON

No. 16 USC Lacrosse Stays Perfect on East Coast with Win over Towson

March 01, 2024 | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score Highlights

The Women of Troy move to 3-0 this season on the East Coast and 20-20 all-time in the Eastern Time Zone

TOWSON, Maryland - No. 16 ranked USC lacrosse (4-1) improved to 4-1 on the East Coast as it rallied from an early deficit to beat Towson (1-3) 11-5 on Friday, Mar. 1 at Tiger Field in Towson, Maryland.

KEY PLAYERS:

Senior Claudia Shevitz led the charge with four goals in the contest. Shevitz now has 12 career-hat tricks, which gives her sole possession of 12th place in USC history. Graduate student Ella Heaney had five points (two goals & three assists) as she leads the Women of Troy with 20 points for the season.
Defensively, junior Alexis Niblock was dominant with four caused turnovers and five ground balls. The defender has seven caused turnovers and six ground balls in the past two games. Graduate student Sloane Murphy and junior Catherine Lord also had multiple caused turnovers, with two each.
Senior Kait Devir had eight total saves while only allowing five goals in the win.
Freshman Anna Regan continues to succeed in the circle, as she had seven draw controls in the contest. She now has 43 draw controls for the season.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Women of Troy could not convert on several chances in the first quarter, as they outshot the Tigers 7-6 and were outscored 2-1. USC started the afternoon with plenty of chances, as Regan dominated the circle to begin as she pushed the Women of Troy to a 4-0 draw control advantage. The Tigers did not need the advantage, as they found the back of the net twice to start the matchup before graduate student Ella Heaney got USC on the board at 5:07 in the first.
In the second quarter, both teams came alive with a pair of scoring runs from each side. It all started as Shevitz scored at 13:39 in the second quarter - her first of two in the quarter. Towson would begin on their run afterward, as it scored twice in a little over a minute to make it 4-2 advantage Tigers. However, as that run ended, the Trojans began, scoring four straight from four different players, starting at 5:22 and ending at :04. In order, the scoring went Tilton, Shevitz, sophomore Maddie Dora and senior Maggie Brown. During that span, Heaney provided two assists on the final two goals of the quarter.
Heading into the second half, USC held a two-goal advantage at 6-4. Brown, who had already made her mark, was the first to extend the lead with a goal at 5:32. The Women of Troy would exchange goals to end the third, but the quarter's story was the defense on both sides. Towson recorded its most saves in a quarter with four, as USC forced nine turnovers and picked up nine ground balls.
Two players highlighted the fourth, Devir and Shevitz. Shevitz was the first to make her mark, putting together a two-goal quarter (12:25 & 5:37) as she finished a hat trick and solidified the lead. Devir stood up for the defense as she put on a clinic with five saves to add to her total. While these two held down the fort, Dora put an end to the scoring, as she found the net with 1:12 left in the game and scored 11-5 in the end.

UP NEXT:
USC heads to its second leg of the East Coast tripleheader, as it faces No. 15 Johns Hopkins at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET on Sunday, Mar. 3 at Homewood Field in Baltimore.

GAME NOTES:

USC is now 20-20 in the Eastern Time Zone and are 61-30 in road games. The Women of Troy are 115-18 against IWLCA unranked teams all-time.
USC played Towson for the first time in program history. The Trojans are 2-0 this season when they play an opponent they have never played before.
Heaney climbed into the fifth spot in all-time points for USC, as she now has 176 for her career.
The Women of Troy had season-highs in several categories, with 27 clears, 18 ground balls, and eight assists in the game.
Niblock set multiple career-highs with five ground balls and four caused turnovers.

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 X @USCTrojansLax.