Women’s lacrosse bested in pair of road matches

Over the weekend, USC women’s lacrosse dropped to 7-7 on the season (5-4 conference record) after suffering a pair of losses. The team traveled to snowy Boulder, Col., Friday, where they lost 10-7 to the Buffaloes despite a strong team performance which included a 4-goal game for sophomore midfielder Kerrigan Miller. Following their loss, the team traveled to Oregon, where they faced defeat once again, this time to the Ducks by a score of 11-18.

After losing against Stanford last week, the Women of Troy were determined to bring their A-game against the Buffaloes. The game had its fair share of ups and downs. The Buffs came out of the gate to make a statement early, scoring 4 goals in the first 13 minutes and leaving the Trojans scoreless.     

The first half continued to be all about the Buffaloes, as they rolled into halftime with a comfortable 7-1 lead. USC started the second half dominantly as Miller and sophomore midfielder Kaeli Huff, who had 2 goals of her own on Friday, led the team on a 4-0 run as the game closed in on its 15-minute mark.

Colorado senior attacker Darby Kiernan, who was a force throughout Friday’s game with 5 goals, ended USC’s scoring run with 2 of Colorado’s next 3 goals to give the Buffaloes a more sizeable lead of 10-5.

With one more goal by Miller — her fourth — and a late goal by freshman midfielder Sophia Donovan with under a minute left, the final score was sealed at 10-7 in favor of Colorado.

Despite the loss, Miller posted her fourth hat trick this season. She is the seventh Trojan to record 10 career hat tricks, and she has achieved this by her sophomore season.

The loss ended USC’s five-game winning streak against the Buffaloes, a team they defeated last year, 11-5.

After their defeat in Colorado, the team traveled north to Eugene, Ore., to face the Ducks with hopes of bouncing back. Earlier in the season, the Trojans defeated the Ducks in overtime by a final score of 9-8.

However, this matchup would tell a different story as the Trojan powerhouse was crushed by a score of 11-18.

Unlike the start of the game against Colorado, USC drew the first blood against Oregon. The 1-0 lead would not last long as the Ducks dominated the field and went on a 10-0 scoring run, leaving the Trojans scoreless for 15 minutes.

With the end of the first half quickly approaching, freshman midfielder Kelsey Huff and junior midfielder Emily Concialdi snapped the Trojans out of their drought and scored a goal each. Their efforts put the Trojans at 10-3 at the start of the second half. Huff continued to prove herself in this game by scoring her fourth hat trick of the season to tie for the team lead of four this season.

In the second half, Oregon came out and secured the running clock against USC with a 4-0 run. As the Trojans struggled to catch up, they responded with a 6-0 run to trim the lead to 14-9.

Despite the efforts made by the Trojans, the Ducks ultimately solidified the win (18-11) over the Women of Troy when Oregon’s senior midfielder Jojo Hesketh scored her fourth goal of the day.

Undoubtedly, the Ducks proved themselves to be a force to be reckoned with.

Oregon’s strong roster consisted of four of their players scoring hat tricks led by 5 goals scored by Hesketh, 4 goals by senior attacker Mariah Gatti and 3 apiece from senior midfielder Natalie Modly and senior attacker Jill Zubillaga.

For the Trojans, senior defense Lydia Sutton had two ground balls. Midfielder Kerrigan Miller had three ground balls and two caused turnovers. Lastly, sophomore defense Morgan Kuligowski had one ground ball and caused two turnovers.

Senior goalkeeper Gussie Johns’ strong defense continued to be a strong asset for the Women of Troy despite the back-to-back losses. Over the weekend, she added 17 saves and eight ground balls to her count for the 2018 season. 

The Women of Troy return to McAlister Field still ranked No. 17 on the season and are looking to snap their three-game losing streak as they welcome former MPSF foe San Diego State this Friday. The match will be the final home game for the spring season and will include a pregame Senior Day festivity, where the Trojans will celebrate seniors Johns, Lydia Sutton and Alexis Kardias.