Lacrosse narrowly defeats Stanford

No. 16 USC improved to 10-1 on the season after a back-and-forth victory over conference rival Stanford at McAlister Field Monday.

The game came down to the wire when Stanford sophomore attacker Katherine Gjertsen made a goal that would have tied the game at 10 apiece with one second remaining. However, the goal was overturned after a controversial follow-through call, making the final score 10-9.  

Although the game was close, the Trojans appeared to be on top the whole way. Stanford never led after the 25-minute mark in the first half. Every time the Cardinal seemed to gain momentum, USC responded.

For seven of the final 10 minutes of play, the Trojans led by just one goal. When USC possessed the ball with about six minutes remaining, head coach Lindsay Munday called a timeout to draw up a play for the team.

The Trojans executed well after the timeout. Junior attacker Hope Anhut scored by coming around the crease and firing the ball into the top right corner of the net to give USC the cushion they would need to gut out the victory.

But with just over two minutes remaining in the game, Stanford junior midfielder Mikaela Watson scored for the Cardinal, again narrowing the Trojans’ lead to one. The Cardinalspossessed the ensuing draw and held the ball for a final shot to try to send the game to overtime.

In their final possession, sophomore USC goalie Riley Hertford saved two shots, completing her new career-high of 17 saves.

“I was surprised to find out I had 17 saves,” Hertford said. “I did hit a little bit of a zone.”

Hertford had a .654 save percentage and racked up four groundballs.

“Honestly I wasn’t really thinking anything at that point,” Hertford said. “It was more thinking about my defense and locking in.”

The stout Trojan defense held No. 20 Stanford offense to just 9 goals, short of Stanford’s average of 14 per game.

USC didn’t have its most outstanding shooting day, scoring only 10 goals on 35 shots. Three of USC’s top five scorers, senior attacker Emily Concialdi, sophomore midfielder Sophia Donovan and junior attacker Izzy McMahon were scoreless against Stanford.

The Trojan midfielders stepped up offensively where the usual offensive playmakers struggled.

Sophomore midfielder Kelsey Huff led the Trojans with 3 goals on the day to go with her four ground balls and three caused turnovers.

Junior midfielder Kerrigan Miller scored 2 goals and assisted on another.

“We stayed solid, stayed disciplined and stuck to what we knew,” Miller said. “It worked out for us in the end.”

After falling to Stanford last year in the Pac-12 championship, USC proved that this year’s team is different with its victory. In fact, Miller doesn’t see any similarities between this 2019 team and those of teams past.

“Every year when I come on this team, it’s always different,” Miller said. “We have a tendency to compare to last years, but there’s really nothing to compare. Every team and every freshman class brings a new era of talent.”

As Pac-12 play heats up, the Trojans are positioned to head into the tournament as the heavy favorite. The win over Stanford gives USC a victory over every other team in the conference.

Looking ahead, the Trojans will travel to Cal and Stanford this weekend for rematches of their two most recent games.