No. 17 USC women’s lacrosse had a strong start to its 2024 campaign after opening up with a huge road win against then-No. 15 United States Military Academy (7-0, 3-0). Since then, the Trojans (7-3, 1-0 Pac-12) are 6-3, most recently falling to Dartmouth College (5-2, 0-1 Ivy League) 17-12 Monday following a dominant 21-13 victory over UC Davis (7-3, 0-1 Pac-12) two days prior to start conference play.

At home, which has been Dignity Sports Health Park for USC so far this year as Rawlinson Stadium undergoes construction, the Trojans are 3-2 with wins over UC Davis, Temple University (6-3, 1-0 ACC)  and Hofstra University (4-4, 1-0 Coastal Athletic Association). In addition to its game against Army, USC is 1-2 against ranked opponents, falling to both then-No. 15 Johns Hopkins University (7-3, 0-1 Big Ten) and then-No. 6 Michigan (10-0, 2-0 Big Ten).

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Now, USC is looking ahead to the weekend as they are set to face the Arizona State Sun Devils (5-4, 0-1 Pac-12) Saturday afternoon.

“We want to focus on ourselves,” said Head Coach Lindsey Munday when asked about what she’s most looking out for in this weekend’s matchup. “We know that we need to be a little more consistent. That’s going to really be the focus, is playing a full 60 minutes on both sides of the ball.”

Arizona State, which stands at 5-4 overall after a win over San Diego State University (1-9, 0-1 Big 12), is currently on a two-game win streak. Led by junior goalie Katie Vahle, who recently won Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week, the Sun Devils will be a tough test for the Trojans. Senior attacker Mina Scott and sophomore attacker Lydia Oldknow lead ASU on offense with 23 goals each. 

On the offensive end, USC is led by a group of veteran attackers in senior Maggie Brown, graduate student Ella Heaney and senior Shelby Tilton, who lead the team in scoring. Senior midfielder Claudia Shevitz has scored 19 goals on the year, and both she and Tilton recorded back-to-back hat tricks against Dartmouth and UC Davis. Redshirt junior attacker Isabelle Vitale leads the team in points with 32 assists so far this season, along with 10 goals.

“We have a number of girls who chose to come back for a fifth year [and] I think they’re doing a great job,” Munday said. “Sometimes when you come back and it’s your last year, there’s so much unnecessary pressure to be perfect. This group is finding the balance of setting high standards, but also having fun and playing loose.” 

In the Trojans’ game against UC Davis, where they scored the most goals they had since defeating Oregon 21-5 back in 2022, USC outscored the Aggies 7-3 in the fourth quarter. Conversely, however, the Trojans battled Dartmouth in the first two quarters but saw the Big Green go on a 12-3 run that started at the beginning of the third quarter.

The Trojans came into the season with some momentum after winning the program’s second Pac-12 conference title last season, but Munday said the team cannot look too far ahead this season.

“Right now we have to focus on this year and this group and one game at a time,” Munday said. “We’re not looking at last year at this point. It really is just about this team and this group and working to get better and be playing our best at the right time.”

After playing Arizona State, USC has five more Pac-12 conference games before beginning the Pac-12 Tournament May 1. The rest of the Trojans’ home games will be played in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which is where the Pac-12 Tournament is to be held as well.

The Trojans’ first home game back is set to be against UC Berkeley on March 31, with the first faceoff at noon.