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John Lozano/isiphotos.com
Women's Lacrosse

Regular Season Title Clinched

LOS ANGELES – Ali Baiocco fired in her eighth goal of the day off a pass from Galen Lew with 16 seconds remaining to propel No. 16 Stanford to a 16-15 win at USC, Sunday, at McAlister Field.

The win clinched Stanford's first Pac-12 regular season title since the league's inception in 2018, and the program's 15th regular season crown overall. The Cardinal has earned the No. 1 seed for the Pac-12 Tournament, which it will host at Cagan Stadium, May 5-8.
 


Stanford (8-0, 6-0 Pac-12) matched its best start to a season since 2011. The Cardinal out shot the Trojans, 34-27, including 19-9 in the second half. Stanford also won the draw control battle 19-14 thanks to a 12-6 advantage in the second half.

Baiocco matched her school single-game record with eight goals, which she set in the season opening win over UC Davis (Feb. 28), and added an assist to lead the Cardinal with nine points. Baiocco now has 38 goals on the season, averaging 4.75 per game, and leads the Pac-12 with 58 points.
 


Lew registered a hat trick for Stanford and dished out a pair of assists. The senior now has 22 goals and 14 assists on the year. Freshman Ailish Kelly added two goals for Stanford, bringing her season count up to 18.

Sixth-year Genesis Lucero, senior Katherine Gjertsen and sophomore Anna Griffith rounded out the Cardinal scoring. Lucero also collected a team-high 11 draw controls to with two assists. Defender Kyra Pelton added five draw controls, three ground balls and a caused turnover.

Stanford quickly took a 2-0 lead in the game, but USC answered with three straight goals and would not surrender the lead until Baiocco's game-winner. The Cardinal trailed by as many as four in the second half and there were five tie scores in the contest.

Sophomore Kara Rahaim earned the win in goal, improving to 4-0 on the year. She finished the game with three saves.

In the battle of the McMahon sisters, Stanford fifth-year Daniella McMahon and freshman Sophia McMahon got the best of USC's Izzy McMahon and Michaela McMahon on the scoreboard. Daniella McMahon dished out her fourth assist of the year to Kelly in the second half and tallied two ground balls, two draw controls and a caused turnover. Izzy McMahon led the Trojans with a career-high six goals.
 


Stanford wraps up the regular season on Saturday at rival California. The game is slated for Noon at California Memorial Stadium.