Ella Heaney Named Pac-12 Attacker of the Year

SAN FRANCISCO - USC lacrosse's Ella Heaney (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City HS) became the first Trojan to win the Pac-12 Attacker of the Year award. The Trojans were also honored with seven Pac-12 All-Conference team members, the conference announced Tuesday, April 30.

USC surpassed all its conference mates, posting the most members on the All-Conference teams. Stanford was second, with six members on both the first and second teams. USC took home four spots on the first team and three on the second.

Headlining the Trojan's first-team members was Heaney, who highlighted the offense by winning one of the six available awards for players. The graduate student put up new career highs as she led the Trojans during the regular season with 68 points (43 goals & 25 assists). Heaney has been a force, accumulating three conference Offensive Player of the Week awards throughout the 2024 season. Heaney is one of two attackers USC attackers on the All-Conference First Team. Alongside her is redshirt junior Isabelle Vitale. Vitale, the leading assister on the squad, is making her second-straight appearance as a first-team honoree. The last two joining them on the first team is two junior defenders, Catherine Lord and Alexis Niblock. This is Lord's second-straight first-team honor, while Niblock makes her debut on the squad.

USC has a mix of positions on the second team, with two attackers and one midfielder. The two attackers are seniors Maggie Brown and Shelby Tilton. Both players were recognized as All-Conference second-teamers last year, and this is Tilton's third time on the list. Joining them is last year's Midfielder of the Year, Claudia Shevitz.

Heaney becomes the first Trojan to win the Attacker of the Year award, which was introduced in 2018 and has been won three times by Stanford and two times by Colorado.

The 21st-ranked Trojans (12-4, 6-1 Pac-12) secured the No. 2 seed, as Stanford claimed the Pac-12 regular season title. USC hosts a first-round bye but will meet the winner of No. 3 Colorado (11-5, 5-2 Pac-12) and No. 6 UC Davis (9-7, 2-5 Pac-12) in the semifinals at 7:00 p.m. at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles.

For more information on the USC women's lacrosse team, including a complete schedule and results, please visit USCTrojans.com. Fans of the Women of Troy can follow the team on Instagram and Twitter @USCTrojansLax.

Players Mentioned

Maggie Brown

Ella Heaney

Catherine Lord

Alexis Niblock

Claudia Shevitz

Shelby Tilton

Isabelle Vitale