Michael, Huff earn weekly MPSF honors


After a strong 2-0 weekend for USC women’s lacrosse, the MPSF awarded senior attacker Michaela Michael and freshman midfielder Kaeli Huff Player of the Week honors on Monday.

Michael earned her eighth career Offensive Player of the Week nod, while Huff received her first Rookie of the Week honor.

Michael, a 2014 Rookie of the Week recipient, earned Offensive Player of the Week honors this week for her offensive explosions in the Trojans’ wins over Fresno State and Cal this past weekend. USC outscored the two teams by a combined score of 42-9 en route to raising its record to 9-3 on the season.

This week’s award marks Michael’s third straight week being named the Offensive Player of the Week after winning the honor four times in 2016. Michael netted 10 goals, grabbed 17 draw controls and added an assist, a ground ball and a caused turnover to help the Trojans maintain an undefeated 5-0 record at home in 2017.

Against Cal, Michael took fewer than 20 minutes to score six goals, while against Fresno State, Michael took just five minutes to score a hat trick in a four-goal performance. Her 33rd and 34th career three-goal games moved Michael into third place in MPSF history with 196 career goals, and she currently sits in fifth all-time with 258 career points.

As for first-year midfielder Huff, her Rookie of the Week honor means she joins fellow freshman midfielder Kerrigan Miller as the only USC freshmen to earn the award.

In her first year out of
Eastport-South Manor High School, the two-time High School Academic All-American exploded with a
five-goal performance, which included three ground balls, two caused turnovers and a draw win. Thanks to her five goals against the Bulldogs, Huff now ranks eighth on the team in points (14) and sixth in goals (13).

Since USC debuted its varsity women’s lacrosse program in 2013, the Trojans have won 30 MPSF weekly honors (12 offensive, 10 defensive and eight rookie).

USC also boasts numerous players vying for recognition in annual awards. After winning in 2015, Michael is making a strong case for yet another MSPF Player of the Year title with her team-leading 40 goals, 52 points and 76 draws controlled. Miller, a potential MPSF Rookie of the Year candidate, is giving Huff a run for her money with 29 points, 22 goals, 26 ground balls, 19 caused turnovers and 19 draws controlled.

But with five games left in the regular season, USC still has a long way until postseason awards are doled out. Next up, the
ninth-ranked Trojans (9-3, 3-0 MPSF) will travel to Oregon to battle the Ducks (7-5, 3-1) on Friday. Then they will head down to San Diego State to take on the Lady Aztecs (8-3, 2-1) on Saturday.