LOS ANGELES, Calif. – It was another buzzer-beating heartbreaker. Sophomore Katherine Gjertsen scored with one second left to tie the game, but the goal was disallowed and No. 20 Stanford women's lacrosse fell to No. 16 USC, 10-9, at McAlister Field on Monday afternoon.
Stanford (7-3, 3-2 Pac-12) lost on the road for the first time in more than a year, snapping an eight-game road winning streak. It was the second last-second loss of the season as the Cardinal fell in the season opener when the tying goal was deemed to cross the goal line after time expired.
Just prior to the game, sophomore goalkeeper Trudie Grattan was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the week for an unpreceded third time this season. She followed up that announcement with another stellar performance, including a career-high 14 saves (.583 save percentage).
How It Happened
No team led by more than two goals. USC (10-1, 5-0) led by that margin with just over two minutes remaining when junior Mikaela Watson muscled her way inside the 8-meter and fired one just under the crossbar to make it a 10-9 deficit.
Senior Julia Massaro won the ensuing draw control and Gjertsen fired the game-tying goal into the back of the net with one second left. However, the referees waved off the goal due to a dangerous follow through.
Coincidentally, it was Gjertsen who opened the scoring less than three minutes into the contest. But USC scored twice before sophomore Hannah Dudley tied it up again at the 17:34 mark.
The Trojans led 4-2 before freshman Caitlin Chicoski pulled Stanford within one with 7:02 left in the half.
USC scored with 53 seconds remaining to take a 5-3 lead into the half.
Junior Daniella McMahon and senior Areta Buness scored just 58 seconds apart to tie the game, 5-5, with 26:13 to play.
After that, the teams went back-and-forth -- USC scored, Stanford answered. The Trojans ended that string with three of four goals for a 10-8 advantage with 5:16 remaining.
Number Crunching
Stanford had eight different goal scorers as Buness was the only one with two. Watson led the Cardinal with three ground balls, while Massaro (5) and senior Genesis Lucero (6) had 11 of Stanford's 12 draw controls.
The Cardinal had a 12-9 edge in draw controls, was outshot 35-30, and the Trojans led 18-17 in ground balls.
Notables
All three of Stanford's losses this season have been to ranked teams (Denver, Colorado, at USC) … Stanford's last road loss was March 9, 2018 at Colorado, which was also the first Pac-12 game ever played ... This was the 12th all-time meeting between these programs, and the teams have split the series, 6-6 … Each of the last seven meetings has been decided by three goals or less, and nearly half of all meetings (five) have been decided by exactly one goal … Stanford is now 1-4 all-time at McAlister Field, with the lone win last season (14-11).
Next Up
Stanford welcomes the same two teams it just faced. Arizona State will be on The Farm on Friday for a 6 p.m. contest, while just six days from now, No. 16 USC will be at Cagan Stadium for a 1 p.m. matchup on Sunday.