Women's Lacrosse | April 04, 2019

LOS ANGELES – No. 14 USC lacrosse (12-1, 7-0 Pac-12) looks to push its winning streak to double digits when No. 23 Colorado (5-5, 4-1) and Oregon (2-10, 0-5) visit McAlister Field this weekend. The Trojans' streak currently stands at nine straight games and is already the third longest in program history. One more win will make it only the third double-digit streak in school history as well. USC won 20 straight games in 2016 and had a 12-game win streak in 2017. Both previous times, the Trojans advanced to the NCAA quarterfinal.

GAME #14 • Friday, April 5 • 3 p.m. PT
No. 14 USC (12-1, 7-0) vs. No. 23 Colorado (5-5, 4-1)
McAlister Field • Los Angeles, Calif.
SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 6-2 (.750) • STREAK: W1
LAST MEETING: W, 11-5 (Mar. 16, 2019 • Boulder, Colo.)
TV: Pac-12 N/LA/M (Christian Miles)
OPPONENT WEB: CUBuffs.com
 
GAME #15 • Sunday, April 7 • 1 p.m. PT
No. 14 USC (12-1, 7-0) vs. Oregon (2-10, 0-5)
McAlister Field • Los Angeles, Calif.
SERIES HISTORY: USC leads, 6-3 (.667) • STREAK: W1
LAST MEETING: W, 14-5 (Mar. 17, 2019 • Eugene, Ore.)
TV: Pac-12 LA/O (Christian Miles)
OPPONENT WEB: GoDucks.com

CROSSExamination

• USC is ranked No. 14 in the IWLCA coaches poll; the 49th consecutive week that the Trojans are ranked in the poll.
• The Trojans' nine-game winning streak is a season long and the longest since a 12-game streak (March 26-May 14, 2017).
• The Women of Troy went 9-1 in the month of March.
• USC leads the Pac-12 in scoring defense (6.02 gaa).
• The Trojans are 42-10 all-time at McAlister Field and 44-12 in all-time home games including contests played at the LA Memorial Coliseum.
• No. 23 Colorado is the sixth ranked opponent the Trojans face this season. USC owns 19 all-time wins over ranked foes (19-27).
• Eight different Trojans have scored double-digit goals this season. Six of those players have scored 20 or more goals including team leader Kelsey Huff (30).
• Huff and fellow sophomore goalie Riley Hertford were named for Pac-12 Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week honors respectively this week.
• Seventh-year head coach Lindsey Munday is 91-39 all-time (.700).

The Trojans lead the Pac-12 and are 12th in the NCAA with a plus-5.50 margin of victory. USC also leads the conference in goals-against average (8.69 gaa), and goals per game (14.15 gpg). Eight Women of Troy have scored double-digit goals through 13 games including six over the 20-goal mark. Team leader Kelsey Huff has 35 points on 30 goals and five assists and is riding a streak of three consecutive hat tricks. Sophia Donovan has 35 points (24g, 11a). Hope Anhut has 34 points as the team's top distributor with 13 assists (21 goals). Emily Concialdi (20g, 11a) has 31 points. Huff also has 21 ground balls and 19 caused turnovers. Izzy McMahon also has 29 points (21g, 8a).
 
All-American Kerrigan Miller does a little of everything. She has 14 goals, 31 draw controls, 34 ground balls, and a team-high 23 caused turnovers. In goal, Riley Hertford leads the league with an 8.86 goals-against average and tops all players with 3.46 ground balls per game. In the center circle, Jackie Gilbert has 72 draw controls and leads the league at 5.54 per game. She also has 19 caused turnovers and 18 ground balls. Seventh-year head coach Lindsey Munday (91-39) leads an experienced and battle-tested squad into a quest for a fourth NCAA berth.
 
TRACK THE TROJANS: For a behind-the-scenes look, fans of USC lacrosse can follow the Trojans on Twitter and Instagram at @USCTrojansLax. USC will appear in four live Pac-12 Networks broadcasts this spring. Home games against Stanford (Mar. 25), Colorado (Apr. 5), and Oregon (Apr. 7); and a road game at Stanford (Mar. 31) will be shown on the Networks' national and regional channels. Pac-12 tournament games will also be carried on the network's channels. All non-broadcast league games will be shown on the Pac-12+ stream platform.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Women of Troy extended their season-long winning streak to nine games with a pair of road victories over California (16-4) and Stanford (11-10). The 12-goal win over the Golden Bears was USC's third double-digit victory of the season (all by 12). The Trojans then went to overtime on The Farm for the second time in as many visits. This time, the Women of Troy staved off the Cardinal for an 11-10 victory on Kelsey Huff's game-winner in the second extra period. Huff scored four against Stanford and racked up her third straight hat-trick game. In goal, Riley Hertford had eight saves and picked up eight ground balls. Both Huff and Hertford were later named Pac-12 Players of the Week.

SCOUTING REPORT - NO. 23 COLORADO: The Buffaloes (5-5, 4-1 Pac-12) hold second place in the league standings but are coming off a 9-7 loss to No. 15 Denver at home. All five of CU's losses are to ranked opponents including an 11-5 decision to USC on March 16 in Boulder. Miranda Stinson leads the Buffs with 35 goals and 10 assists (45 points). She also handles duties in the center circle with 35 draw controls. Her 15 caused turnovers also top all CU players and she is second on the team with 20 ground balls. In goal, Julia Lisella has a 48.8 save percentage but gives up just 9.67 goals per game. The Trojans are 6-2 all-time against the Buffs and 4-0 at home.
 
SCOUTING REPORT - OREGON: The Ducks (2-10, 0-5 Pac-12) have lost eight straight coming into the weekend and got their only two wins over Mercer (13-6) in the season opener and Jacksonville (15-12) in the spring's fourth game. Shannon Williams leads Oregon with 51 points and tops all Ducks with 30 goals and 21 assists. Jamie Level has 41 draw controls followed by 29 by Madeline Reece who leads the team in ground balls with 25. In goal, Rachel Hall has a 50.2 save percentage and a 13.74 goals-against average as a freshman. The Trojans are 6-3 all-time against Oregon and are 2-1 in home games against the Ducks, including an overtime victory in 2018.

HOME, SWEET HOME: The Women of Troy are 44-12 all-time in home games and are 40-10 at McAlister Field. Between 2015 and 2018, the Trojans won 23 straight games on McAlister Field. Including two wins at the LA Memorial Coliseum, USC claimed 25 consecutive home victories during the impressive streak.
 
LET'S GET IT STARTED: USC improved to 4-3 all-time in season openers following its 15-10 win over Hofstra (Feb. 9). The Trojans started the year 3-0 before suffering a loss; the second-best start in school history. The program record for consecutive wins to open a season is 20 when USC blazed a trail into the 2016 NCAA quarterfinals with a 20-0 record. The Trojans are also 7-0 in all-time league openers (5-0 in the MPSF and 2-0 in the Pac-12).
 
FRESH RECORDS: In USC's game against Hofstra, freshman attacker Katie Ramsay became the first Trojan freshman to record a hat trick in her first collegiate game since 2013 (Maggie Mawhinney vs. Presbyterian; Feb. 13). She scored the first goal of the game, which marked only the third time that a freshman scored the Trojans' first goal of the season. Ramsay joined Kelsey Huff (2018 at Virginia Tech) and Amanda Johansen (2013 vs. Northwestern).
 
NET VALUE: Sophomore goalie Riley Hertford's win on Feb. 9 vs. Hofstra marked just the second time that a USC netminder earned a victory in her first-career start. The other was Cassandra Collins (April 24, 2016) in her senior game start against UC Davis. Hertford's then-career high 11 saves against Jacksonville (Feb. 24) made her just the third USC goalie to collect double-digit saves in a game.
 
ALL-AMERICAN GIRLS: USC has celebrated seven IWLCA All-America selections through six years as a program. Michaela Michael was the first-ever All-American selection as a third-teamer in 2015. Michael and defender Courtney Tarleton were each named to the first team in 2016, with midfielder Amanda Johansen chosen to the third team. Michael repeated her first-team honors in 2017 and defender Lydia Sutton earned third-team honors. Kerrigan Miller joined the ranks as a third-team choice in 2018.
 
PAC IT UP: 2019 is the second season of Pac-12 lacrosse. In 2018, the Conference of Champions made lacrosse the 13th women's sport sponsored by the Pac-12. The addition of Arizona State brought the league to the minimum six teams to receive an automatic qualifier berth into the NCAA championship. The first-ever Pac-12 Lacrosse Championship was held at Prentup Field; hosted by Colorado. Stanford claimed the first Pac-12 title and will defend its crown at the 2019 championship in Eugene, Ore. (April 25-28). Previously a member of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, from the end of 2015 to the middle of the 2018 season, USC won a school-record 22 consecutive conference games. The Trojans were undefeated in the MPSF in 2016 (9-0) and 2017 (8-0). USC won the 2016 and 2017 MPSF championships. USC is 6-0 all-time in league openers and earned its first victory in a Pac-12 opener, 14-3, against Arizona State in 2018.
 
PAC-12 POW-WOW: Trojans own 10 Pac-12 Player of the Week awards. Five different Women of Troy have received the honor this spring. Emily Concialdi (Feb. 25), Sophia Donovan (Mar. 18), and Kelsey Huff (Apr. 1) were each named for the offensive award for the first times in their careers. Kerrigan Miller (Mar. 11) earned her second-career nod and became the first player in league history to receive both the defensive and offensive awards in her career. Riley Hertford is USC's only repeat winner this season (Mar. 18, Apr. 1) and is the program's third player to receive multiple awards. Trojans swept the awards on both March 18 and April 1. Previously, All-Pac-12 goalie Gussie Johns was named for the Defensive Player of the Week award twice in 2018. All-American defender Lydia Sutton was also Defensive Player of the Week once.
 
POLL POSITION: The Trojans opened 2019 ranked No. 21 in the IWLCA Coaches' preseason poll. USC has spent 49 consecutive weeks ranked in the IWLCA poll dating back to the 2016 preseason poll. USC spent a school-record 26 straight weeks in the top 10 from March 21, 2016 through Feb. 19, 2018. The Trojans are 19-27 all-time against ranked opponents, which includes a 9-13 record against teams ranked in the top 10 and 2-10 against teams ranked among the top five.