USC Lacrosse Falls to No. 18 Penn State in Big Ten Opener

Thursday, March 12

Los Angeles, Calif.

6:00 p.m. PT

USC

6-3, 0-1Big Ten

Penn State

9-0, 1-0Big Ten

Penn St.

USC

Photo by: Bryce Dechert

USC Lacrosse Falls to No. 18 Penn State in Big Ten Opener

March 12, 2026 | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score Highlights

Emma Bunting matched her career high with four goals in a loss to the Nittany Lions

LOS ANGELES – The USC lacrosse team (6-3, 0-1 Big Ten) lost, 19-8, to No. 18 Penn State (9-0, 1-0) in the Trojans' Big Ten opener at Rawlinson Stadium on Thursday, March 12.

KEY PLAYERS

Jr. attacker Emma Bunting matched her career high with four goals to notch her fifth-career hat trick game. She also had an assist to total five points.
Jr. attacker Reese Robinson had three points (2g, 1a).
Jr. midfielder Anna Regan scored one and had an assist for two points to go with three draw controls.
So. defender Sophie Gangemi snagged one ground ball and caused two turnovers.
Sr. defender Kate Gerrity grabbed four ground balls to equal her career high and caused a pair of Penn State turnovers.
Sr. defender Asjia Roberson caused two turnovers and picked up one ground ball.
For the Nittany Lions, Kelly Mackinney totaled eight points (4g, 4a) to share game-high honors. Payton Wainman also scored four goals. Emma Kelly had a game-high eight draw controls and scored a goal. Maggie Driver had three ground balls and three caused turnovers. Delaney Radin scored three goals and had five assists for eight points.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Penn State outshot USC, 31-19, and got to 13 ground balls to the Trojans' 12. The Nittany Lions also had 18 draw controls over USC's 11-draw win output.
PSU scored the first two goals of the game, but the Trojans got on the board when Nittany Lion goalie Sydney Manning accidentally put the ball into her own goal after a save. Bunting scored the second USC goal, but Wainman scored twice to make it 5-2 after 15 minutes.
The Trojans scored another two goals in the second quarter, but Penn State totaled seven to go into halftime with an eight-goal lead, 12-4. Bunting and Robinson had the two USC goals in the second frame.
Robinson scored unassisted to keep the Trojans within striking distance in the third and then Bunting had back-to-back goals at the end of the quarter, but Penn State completed the third with a 10-goal lead, 17-7.
The Nittany Lions went on top by 12 at 19-7 with just under 13 minutes to play and maintained that lead until Regan scored off a dish from Bunting to make it 19-8 with just over four to play. The teams went back and forth but neither could add to their total before the game ended with an 11-goal gap on the board.

UP NEXT

USC is back in action on Sunday (March 15) to take on No. 7-ranked Michigan (5-2, 0-0 Big Ten) at Rawlinson Stadium. First draw is set for 1 p.m. PT and the game will be shown live on Big Ten Plus.

GAME NOTES

USC fell to 0-2 all-time against Penn State.
The Trojans dropped to 4-2 at home on Rawlinson Stadium grass.
USC moved to 12-2 in conference openers (5-0 MPSF; 7-0 Pac-12; 0-2 Big Ten), which includes a 9-2 mark when the Trojans open league play at home (3-0 on the road).
USC All-American midfielder Kerrigan Miller returned to Los Angeles as a first-year assistant coach for the Nittany Lions.

For more information on the USC lacrosse team and a complete schedule and results, please visit USCTrojans.com/LAX. Fans of the Trojans can follow @USCTrojansLax on X and Instagram.