Card Falls in Title GameCard Falls in Title Game
Women's Lacrosse

Card Falls in Title Game

STANFORD, Calif. – Defense proved paramount in a game that tied the MPSF’s all-time low in goals scored in a championship game Sunday afternoon as the USC Women of Troy topped the Cardinal 8-5 to claim their first MPSF title.

The stat sheet after the first half saw both squads close to even in nearly every category, except saves as Allie DaCar earned her All-Tournament Team honor with six saves in the first half. USC came out of the gate to score three unanswered goals in the first 13 minutes, with two coming off of free position opportunities.

Anna Salemo and Dillon Schoen went back-to-back to cut the lead to 3-2 before a trade-off of goals sent the teams into the break with USC up 5-3. Salemo led the field with two goals, though USC, the nation’s best defense, stymied the Cardinal attack to take the lead into the half.

Starting the second half Michaela Michael struck the iron while it was hot with her 62nd goal of the season less than two minutes in to help USC edge away 6-3. Laura Klein answered the call next though to keep Stanford in it.

Allie DaCar was on fire again in the half, turning away eight of USC’s 12 shots as the Cardinal offense went silent, putting up only four shots in the half. The Women of Troy put the nail in the coffin with just under three minutes remaining with back-to-back goals to make it 8-4.

Dillon Schoen took the reigns in the following 20 seconds, charging down the field to set up Alex Poplawski to pull it to 8-5, though it didn’t prove enough as USC closed out its first MPSF title in the fourth year of the program.

The Cardinal now awaits its postseason fate with the NCAA Selection Show taking place May 8 at 6 p.m. PT and can be watched live here.

 

2016 MPSF All-Tournament Team

UC Davis: Ellie Delich

Oregon: Shannon Williams

Denver: Nicole Martindale 

Denver: Maddy Stevenson

Colorado: Kelsie Garrison

Colorado: Paige Soenksen

Stanford: Adrienne Anderson

Stanford: Meg Lentz

Stanford: Allie DaCar

USC: Amanda Johansen

USC: Caroline deLyra

USC: Kelsey Dreyer

MVP - USC: Courtney Tarleton