No. 14 USC Lacrosse clinches regular season Conference title while honoring their seniors.
USC women’s lacrosse rounded out its regular season play with a dominant 16-10 win over conference rival Arizona State to clinch the top seed for the Pac-12 Tournament.
In what has become a team trend, USC was slow out of the gates, scoring its first goal 10 minutes into gameplay. However, the first goal opened the scoring floodgates; the Trojans outscored the Sun Devils 13-4 in the first half. Junior midfielder Kerrigan Miller led the Trojans with 4 goals, all from free-position shots.
All four seniors being honored for their final home game started and had impressive performances for USC.
Senior defender Jackie Gilbert broke the school record for draw possession, collecting 17 on the day. Gilbert and the USC draw circle dominated the entire game: The final draw tally was 20-8 in USC’s favor.
Gilbert has the 17th-most draw controls in the NCAA. This was the fourth time this season that she collected more than 10 in one game. Gilbert also had three ground balls and a caused turnover.
Senior attacker Emily Concialdi added 3 goals, as well as her fourth hat trick of the year, for the Trojans in her final game at McAlister Field. Concialdi ends the regular season with 41 points, the second most on the team.
Senior attackers Amanda Flayhan and Gabbi Klein made an impact as well. Flayhan had a goal and an assist, while Klein scored her first goal of the season and assisted on 2 other goals.
The seniors were announced and presented with framed jerseys in a pre-game ceremony.
“It’s a special moment to celebrate the seniors who put in four years of hard work, today was all about them,” head coach Lindsay Munday said.
The Trojans are now one step closer to achieving their preseason goal of winning the Pac-12 Championship. The team is also a near lock to compete in the NCAA Tournament.
“Luckily, it’s not over for us [and] we get a chance to compete for the conference championship, Munday said. “It’s great that we won the regular season, but we need to focus on our next game.”
This senior class is the final remaining connection to USC’s first varsity lacrosse team in 2011. This year’s seniors included players from the original team in 2011. Munday said he is thankful for the work ethic of this class in particular.
“They are special being a part of the group that had to buy into USC before the program had really had any success,” Munday said. “As a coach, I’m really grateful for their belief and buy-in.”
This senior class was able to navigate this team to a 14-3 record the year after a disappointing 10-8 finish that put them out of the running for the NCAA Tournament last season.
This team boasts a stout defense, a balanced offensive attack with a medley of chaos-creating midfielders.
USC had four players score 40 or more points for them this season. The biggest surprise of the season was the low scoring production from Miller, last year’s leader in points scored. Miller went scoreless in eight of the team’s 17 regular season games.
After scoring 36 goals in each of her first two seasons with the Trojans, Miller was limited to only 20 goals all season. Her shot percentage also dropped below .400 for the first time in her career.
However, Miller remained extremely productive and valuable to the Trojans, leading the team in ground balls and caused turnovers.
USC will compete in the Pac-12 Tournament in Eugene, Ore. this weekend. They will play at 4:30 p.m. Friday against the winner of Thursday’s game between Arizona State and Cal.