Lacrosse prepares for East Coast road trip


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USC lacrosse player wearing the number 10 moves alongside Oregon lacrosse players in green
Junior attacker Ella Heaney moves away from Oregon players last season. Heaney scored a team high 4 goals, her seventh-career hat-trick, plus 1 assist in USC’s season opening victory over San Diego State last week. (Beth Mosch | Daily Trojan file photo)

​​After an opening season 18-7 victory over San Diego State Saturday, USC will hit the road and head southeast for two games in Florida and Georgia.  

The Trojans secured their seventh straight season-opening win over the weekend. USC was led by redshirt freshman attacker Isabelle Vitale who scored 4 goals — all in the first quarter. 

Additionally, both junior attacker Ella Heaney and graduate student midfielder Kelsey Huff recorded hat tricks. In goal, transfer sophomore Kait Devir put up 9 saves in her first collegiate start. Devir’s performance had her named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week. With the win, USC improved to 11-1 all-time against the Aztecs. 

“It was a great first step for us — really proud of how we executed,” said Head Coach Lindsey Munday in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “I’m proud of how we started, but really, it’s just a starting point for us.” 

Leading scorer, Vitale, is also proud of the team’s performance and looks forward to future opportunities. 

“I feel great after the game,” Vitale said. “The offense was clicking on all cylinders and we are just looking forward to playing a ranked team on Friday.”

As the team heads to the southeast this weekend, first up for the Trojans is a Friday game against ranked non-conference opponent, No. 18 Jacksonville University. The Dolphins come off a weekend victory against Virginia Tech. Jacksonville put up a strong performance, beating the Hokies 15-6 and outshooting them 32-21. 

The last time USC faced the Dolphins was in its 2019 Pac-12 Championship season. The Trojans’ all-time record against Jacksonville is 2-0. A win in the matchup over a ranked opponent can get USC back into the IWLCA Division I Poll. 

Jacksonville is known as a high-energy, physical team with a history of successes. During Munday’s time as head coach, she has faced several high-pressure opponents similar to the Dolphins, and she knows what’s required of her team to be successful.

“The main thing for us just all over the field is to be composed and to still stay within our plan and system while handling pressure” Munday said. 

Following the game against Jacksonville Sunday morning, the Trojans will head up to Macon, Ga. to take on Mercer University. This will be the first time the Trojans and Bears face off in women’s lacrosse. 

Mercer begins its regular season against Oregon Friday night. This will be the first season the Bears compete as a member of the Big South after their previous membership in the Southern Conference. The Bears were picked to finish second in the Big South and had multiple players named to the preseason All-Conference team.  

There are several keys to the team’s success this weekend, but Vitale emphasized the importance of communication, effort and handling pressure. These two matchups will be the first away games of the season for the Trojans. Both Jacksonville and Mercer are very important early-season tests before USC begins conference play in March. 

USC will head to the East Coast for meetings against No. 18 Jacksonville Friday in Florida and against Mercer Sunday in Georgia.