Ten new freshmen. Two new assistant coaches. A new conference. The construction of a new stadium. USC lacrosse’s season will be defined by this newness, a quality that can come with both obstacles and advantages for the team. 

With the Trojans’ first regular season game against a familiar rival in Stanford, the team plans to demonstrate just how well the team has meshed over the course of the year. Efforts from the team’s leadership have been instrumental in making sure the team has its necessary flow. 

“I think the [team’s] leadership has really embraced trying to do new things and to challenge them in different ways. The buy-in and the belief have been incredible from the top down, and that starts with the leadership group,” said Head Coach Lindsey Munday in a post-practice interview. 

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Despite the fact that the two schools are no longer conference rivals, this game is extremely important to USC as they try to build momentum to begin their season. Stanford — who is now part of a stacked ACC conference — will travel to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to take on the Trojans. 

“I feel like [winning at the Coliseum] just means everything to us, and especially against Stanford. They’ve been a rival to us for the past four years,” said senior attacker Maddie Dora. “Starting the season off with such a strong start in beating Stanford would mean so much for us and our confidence.”

Also up and coming for the lacrosse team is the construction of Rawlinson Stadium, slated to become the home of USC’s soccer and lacrosse teams inthe summer of 2025. Until then, the lacrosse team will split its time between the Coliseum and Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, for home games this season. 

Similar to many Trojan athletics teams this season, the introduction into the Big Ten stands as a big difference from last season. Now, USC is in the same conference as Big Ten lacrosse behemoths such as Northwestern, Johns Hopkins and Maryland this year. 

Northwestern is projected to repeat its Big Ten victory, according to a preseason coaches poll. Munday played for Northwestern during her time in college, leading the Wildcats to two national championships as a player, along with another three titles as an assistant coach from 2007-2009. 

Now, Munday and new assistant coaches Cassidy Spilis and Jill Rizzo, who are also former Big Ten players, have used their experience to prepare the team for its conference schedule, beginning with its debut against Johns Hopkins. 

“It’s been a really great opportunity to kind of reinvent ourselves a little bit and to kind of redefine what we want to be about,” Munday said. “This team has really embraced that, which has been awesome. I think everyone’s really excited about the Big Ten. We know it’s one of the best lacrosse conferences in the country, and so we’re excited to be a part of it.”

Other players to watch as the Trojans navigate the Big Ten include Dora, senior defender Catherine Lord and redshirt senior attacker Isabelle Vitale, who all made the Big Ten’s 2025 Women’s Lacrosse Players to Watch List ahead of the season. 

Vitale had an outstanding season in 2024, leading the Trojans in assists with 41 and scoring 23 goals. Dora also added 17 goals of her own, while Lord caused 18 turnovers and picked up 27 ground balls. 

Senior defender and captain Alexis Niblock has also been strong defensively for the Trojans. Last season, Niblock started 16 out of 17 games, causing 26 turnovers and picking up 41 ground balls for the Trojans. 

“It’s my last season, the last time I’m going to be playing lacrosse, and that’s crazy when a sport has been a part of your life for 16-plus years,” said Niblock in a post-practice interview. “So I am just super grateful for every single moment and for these last few months that I get to be playing something that completely shaped who I am as a person. I’m just enjoying every single moment.”

With that mindset, lacrosse will play its first game of the season against rival Stanford at the Coliseum on Saturday at 1 p.m., hoping to come out with a victory to mark the start of a successful season.