Women’s LAX wraps up season with ASU victory

The Trojans return to Los Angeles after dominating the Arizona State Sun Devils in a 19-2 victory on Saturday. The victory continues a streak of dominance that includes a 17-7 win last week against San Diego State and concludes the regular season for the Women of Troy. The Trojans are set to rematch ASU on Thursday in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament.

The win improved USC’s record to 2-0 against Arizona State and marked the team’s first-ever game played in Arizona. The Women of Troy were an unstoppable force on the field, entering the Pac-12 Tournament as the third seed.

The Women of Troy dominated ASU throughout the game. The Trojans started off strong against the Sun Devils, scoring 3 goals unanswered before Arizona State’s junior attacker Kerri Clayton could score to bring the score to 3-1.

The first half ended heavily in favor of USC, with a score of 12-1. In fact, in the 35 minutes following Arizona State’s first score, the Trojans put 15 points on the board while the Sun Devils were held scoreless through most of the second half. By the time Clayton scored her second goal of the day, the 18-2 deficit was too much for the Sun Devils to overcome. The Trojans added one more score as the second half wound down to make the final score 19-2 in favor of USC.

As a whole, the Trojans collected a season-high 18 draw controls led by junior defender Jackie Gilbert, who set a single-game season high with 12 draw wins.  Gilbert’s performance on Saturday set a new career-high for her, as she moves into third in USC history with 87 draw controls. Gilbert also scored her first goal since scoring 2 in one game during her freshman season.

Sophomore midfielder Kerrigan Miller continued to be a strong asset for the Trojans by posting her fifth hat trick of the season and the 11th of her career. Miller finished with 3 goals, two assists, three ground balls and two caused turnovers against the Sun Devils. She is currently tied with Gabby McMahon (2014-2017) for sixth place in career points accounted for as a Trojan with 97.    

Freshman midfielder Kelsey Huff continued a promising career as a Trojan by scoring 3 goals for her fifth career hat trick and adding two assists. Huff’s stellar performance was imperative to the Trojans’ success over the weekend and she will be a valuable member of the team entering the Pac-12 Tournament.

In her last regular season game as a Trojan, senior defender Lydia Sutton led all players with five ground balls to go along with one caused turnover. The All-American defender has been a valuable part of the team’s success all season and Saturday’s win over Arizona State was no different.

Sophomore midfielder Kaeli Huff was also able to contribute 2 goals to Saturday’s total. With those goals, Huff moved into ninth on the all-time career points scored list.

Sophomore attacker Izzy McMahon, who ranks third on the team in points scored, continued a stellar season with 2 goals scored against the Sun Devils on Saturday. Sophomore attacker Hope Anhut closed out her first season as a Trojan with 2 goals against the Sun Devils. Graduate attacker Maeve McMahon played well in her last regular season game as a Trojan adding a goal against Arizona State to her statline to go along with a stellar season where she led the team in assists.

Coming off of a two-game winning streak where the Trojans have won by a combined 36-9, the Women of Troy are entering the Pac-12 Tournament the third-ranked team in the conference. The Trojans, who are 2-0 all-time against Arizona State, will be traveling to Boulder, Colo. this Thursday to play the Sun Devils  again, this time at a neutral site.