In a season that, at least recently, hasn’t treated USC lacrosse kindly, there was a glimmer of hope at the start of the second half of Saturday’s matchup with Rutgers.

Down by 5, the Trojans (6-7, 0-5 Big Ten) won three straight draws and scored two goals to bring the game close at 9-6 — part of a 4-1 run that started late in the second quarter.

Freshman midfielder Sydney Stewart got off a shot, but Rutgers sophomore goalkeeper Stella Quilty saved the attempt. After a Scarlet Knight (7-4, 2-1) turnover, sophomore attacker Kaylee Fravert earned a free position shot, which was launched high, missing the goal. Two minutes later, Rutgers scored a goal of its own and never looked back en route to a crushing 15-8 win at Rawlinson Stadium.

The early second-half sequence would prove to be a microcosm of USC’s ability to create chances and inability to convert on Saturday. The Trojans outshot Rutgers 33-25, had two more shots on goal and outdrew the Scarlet Knights 15-9 — numbers that usually at least point to a close game.

Whether it was the stellar play of Quilty, who saved an astounding 60% of shots, the highest volume she had seen all season, or an offensive issue on the Trojans’ end, something prevented USC from capitalizing on the opportunities it created. Now, sitting below .500 for the first time all season and an abysmal 0-5 in conference play, Head Coach Lindsey Munday’s squad will have to make adjustments to finish out its final four games strong.

“We need to get better overall. I think each game has sort of learned a different lesson,” Munday said in a postgame interview with the Daily Trojan. “This game, it was shooting.”

‘We need to be poised’

After starting off with a 2-1 lead, USC surrendered seven straight Rutgers goals, a run spanning about 18 minutes in the first and second quarters. While the Trojans tried to fight back after that, the deficit, aided by USC’s 4-1 draw control loss during the quarter, was too much for them to overcome the rest of the way.

Though the second quarter was a down point in terms of draws, the Trojans otherwise shined in what was a key problem area during last year’s middling Big Ten debut season that saw them go 3-5 in conference play and 10-7 overall. Four different USC players won at least three draws, led by junior midfielder Anna Regan’s five.

Regan was also one of two Trojans to score two goals, on a team-high seven shots. The other two-goal scorer was junior attacker Reese Robinson, whose efforts helped her emerge out of a four-way tie to take the team lead in goals scored this season with 18. 

Fravert and sophomore midfielder Alex May, two of the other three highest scorers, added solo goals of their own. Those three combined for 11 shots, eight on goal, but just four goals.

“Their goalie played well. She stole a couple,” Munday said. “But at the end of the day, we need to be poised, and we need to see the cage and shoot around her.”

Junior attacker Emma Bunting — the Trojans’ point and assist leader, and one of the few remaining pillars from last year’s team — dished a trio of assists to add to her team-high 23, though she failed to convert any of her four shots on goal.

Play near the net was a struggle

A particularly sore spot for USC was free position shots: The Trojans converted just 1-of-7 opportunities from up close, missing all three of their fourth-quarter attempts, while Rutgers scored on three of their four.

“It’s gonna be tough to win a game that way,” Munday said.

Opposite Quitley’s dominant performance, junior goalie Annie Shields had some struggles keeping up with Rutgers’ attack, saving just five shots while allowing 15 goals — a 25% save percentage. Two Scarlet Knight attackers, sophomore Caroline Ling and freshman Kate Theofield, were particularly dominant, scoring five and four goals, respectively — combining for one more than USC’s entire team.

Shields didn’t appear in a game until conference play began March 12. A trio of Trojan goalies — Shields, sophomore Charlotte Morton and sophomore Ellie Thomas — have all started games and played at least 180 minutes. None have save percentages far from 30% and have the three lowest percentages in the Big Ten, among qualified goalies.

Though on paper, Shields has a slightly lower save rate than Thomas, who started the first two games of Big Ten play, the teams Shields has started against — No. 3 Maryland (12-0, 4-0), No. 6 Johns Hopkins (10-3, 3-2) and Top 25 honorable mention Rutgers — may play a factor into that. In those three contests, Shields played the entire 60 minutes, surrendering an average of 16 goals per game.

“Rutgers is good. They scored in the ways that we kind of saw on tape, but they’re good players,” Munday said of Shields’ performance. “We got to look at the tape and see what adjustments we can make.”

As the only non-ranked team USC has faced so far in conference play, the loss to Rutgers, especially by 7 goals to a team the Trojans beat by 9 last year, is one that may hang with them longer than others.

The tough Big Ten slate doesn’t end soon, though, as USC still stares down matchups with No. 12 Northwestern (8-3, 2-1) and honorable mention Ohio State (7-4, 2-2) in its final four games. However, a game against Oregon (6-6, 0-4) and a nonconference bout with Central Michigan University (2-9, 1-2 Mid-American Conference) should offer USC the chance to end with a few wins, as it hopes to right the season ship that has already drifted well off course.

Next up is a trip to Evanston, Illinois, to play the Wildcats on Saturday at noon. Last season, USC fell to Northwestern 17-8 in their sole meeting.