LOS ANGELES, Calif. – A potent offensive attack that saw three Trojans net hat tricks on the day proved to be too much as Stanford fell 14-8 in the NCAA Second Round Sunday afternoon at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum.
The first half saw both teams trade off goals before Stanford took a 2-1 lead in the eighth minute off Dillon Schoen’s free position goal. The Cardinal held on to the lead for another five minutes before USC struck back to tie it and start a five goal streak that Stanford never recovered from.
Mackenzie Tesei broke the drought with 5:44 remaining in the half before Anna Salemo added the last goal to make it 7-4 headed into the break. The Trojan were dominant on the draw control in the first half, while edging the Cardinal in ground balls as well.
Shaking up the game plan in the second half in an effort to obviate, Stanford placed Alexandra Crerend in the draw circle, which proved wise as the Cardinal crushed USC in draws in the second half 9-3. The half started off right as Kelsey Murray set up Alex Poplawski for her first goal to make it 7-5.
USC turned it on again forcing eight Stanford turnovers to go on a four goal tear and widen an insurmountable 11-5 lead. Kelsey Murray rang the bell next, but USC kept answering with three more goals in the last 13 minutes. Dillon Schoen closed out the game with her 27th goal of the year, but the day belonged to USC with the 14-8 win to become the first team in MPSF history to make it past the second round.
The game closes out another historic season for Stanford Women’s Lacrosse, which saw it reach its 19th consecutive conference championship game and win its second NCAA tournament game in program history. The Cardinal thanks its family and fans for all the incredible support this season.