This season, there have been few consistencies for Head Coach Lindsey Munday and USC lacrosse.

A new conference and East Coast travel, having to venture to Dignity Health Sports Park for “home” games, and having three different starting goalies have kept the Trojans (9-6, 2-5 Big Ten) constantly on their toes. But the one constant that has helped keep the team grounded is USC’s 12 seniors.

“I’m just so proud of [the seniors] and so thankful. They really kind of went into this year wanting it to be great, and wanting to work with us as a coaching staff, and really buying into every single thing that we do,” Munday said in an interview Wednesday with the Daily Trojan. “This year, honestly, has been one of the most fun as a coach, to kind of work with the players and really feel that togetherness.”

This season, there have been few consistencies for Head Coach Lindsey Munday and USC lacrosse.

A new conference and East Coast travel, having to venture to Dignity Health Sports Park for “home” games, and having three different starting goalies have kept the Trojans (9-6, 2-5 Big Ten) constantly on their toes. But the one constant that has helped keep the team grounded is USC’s 12 seniors.

“I’m just so proud of [the seniors] and so thankful. They really kind of went into this year wanting it to be great, and wanting to work with us as a coaching staff, and really buying into every single thing that we do,” Munday said in an interview Wednesday with the Daily Trojan. “This year, honestly, has been one of the most fun as a coach, to kind of work with the players and really feel that togetherness.”

A key point of consistency for the Trojans this year has been one of those seniors: attacker Maddie Dora. Playing her fourth season in the cardinal and gold, Dora has been the centerpiece of the Trojans’ attack. Her 55 goals on the season are tied for the second most in the Big Ten and rank 11th in the country.

In USC’s 16-8 loss last week against Penn State (7-8, 5-3), Dora notched her 12th hat trick of the year and was one of just two Trojan scorers in the second half.

It will be a familiar sight this weekend for Dora and the Trojans as they face off against former Pacific-12 foe Oregon (6-9, 0-7) this weekend. It will be USC’s last regular season conference matchup before embarking on the Big Ten Conference Tournament. Dora will look to add to her prolific goal-scoring record against Oregon. In five career duels with the Ducks, Dora has scored nine times.

“We know Oregon, we’ve played them multiple times. I have many times in my career, so definitely there’s [going to be a] benefit there,” Dora said. “Since it’s senior day, we’re really excited to celebrate. I’m a senior and we have such a big class on the team. And I know we had a rough game against Penn State, but the vibes this week in practice have just been awesome and everyone’s excited.”

It’s been a tale of two seasons for USC so far. The Trojans started the year off with a rough loss to No. 11 Stanford (12-4, 6-2 ACC), but bounced back from the defeat by rattling off seven straight victories. Big Ten play has been a whole other ball game, though. USC has won just twice in its last seven games, with just one match before the Big Ten Tournament.

One of the key question marks for USC this season has been at the goalie position. So far this season, three different players have started games in front of the net for the Trojans. Lately, freshman goalkeeper Charlotte Morton has been getting the nod from Munday. She’s started the last six games, but in USC’s match against No. 7 Maryland on April 5 (11-4, 6-1 Big Ten), Munday elected to bench Morton just before halftime in favor of sophomore goalkeeper Annie Shields.

After Wednesday’s practice, Munday declined to name her starter in goal for the Oregon game.

“We’re still evaluating [it] each and every day,” Munday said when asked if Morton would start in goal Saturday. “We’ve got a couple more practices before we decide that.”

The matchup with the Ducks, who are also struggling mightily in Big Ten play, will be a crucial opportunity for the Trojans to get back in the win column. Oregon has yet to claim a Big Ten victory and sits dead last in the standings of its new conference. 

One of the few bright spots for Oregon has been graduate attacker Bri Carrasquillo. The transfer from Yale has juiced up her career highs in the Pacific Northwest this season. Carrasquillo has 40 goals on the year — more than double her most in a season in New Haven — the seventh-best total in the Big Ten. She’s been a bright spot for an Oregon team that is in the bottom three of the Big Ten in goals per game and shot on goal percentage.

“We expect [the Ducks] to come out and give us their all; they’re going to want to ruin our senior day … [Defensively they] switch out of a zone and a man so we’re just gonna have to prepare for both,” said redshirt senior attacker Isabelle Vitale. “We have to treat them like any other opponent and give it our best and try to come out with a win.”

USC will host its senior day as the Oregon Ducks come to Dignity Health Sports Park on Saturday at 1 p.m.