Battle at the Top as USC Visits Stanford
April 13, 2015 MPSF Lacrosse Release 10
USC (10-3 Overall, 6-0 MPSF) won two at home to stay unbeaten in the MPSF, 11-8 over Colorado and 16-4 over Denver, and is off to its best conference start in their three-year history. The 10 overall wins is also a new program-high. The Trojans scored the game's last eight goals vs. Denver. Michaela Michael accumulated 11 goals (career-high six vs. Colorado), two assists, and 11 draws through the two wins, along with a career-high four ground balls vs. Colorado. Gussie Johns had a collective 6.00 goals-against average for the week, with five ground balls. Amanda Johansen totaled four goals, two assists, four ground balls (all vs. Denver to match career-high), six draw controls, and six caused turnovers (career-high five vs. Colorado).
NO. 15 STANFORD (9-2 Overall, 5-0 MPSF) stayed unbeaten in the conference with a 15-10 home win over Oregon (Apr. 9) and 22-2 road win at St. Mary's (Apr. 12). The two wins set up a big weekend in Palo Alto, as UC Davis visits Friday (Apr. 17) and in a first-place battle, USC on Sunday (Apr. 19, 3 pm; Pac-12 Networks ). MacKenzie Tesei had a career-high tying four goals and Lucy Dikeou had eight draw controls against Oregon. Additionally, Maggie Nick came off the bench to score two goals and had two draw controls, before collecting two ground balls at St. Mary's.
UC DAVIS (3-10 Overall, 2-3 MPSF) Elizabeth Landry accumulated 15 draw controls in three games this past week, bringing her career total to an all-time MPSF record 227. In a 13-8 overtime win at California, Landry had nine draws and scored twice. In the 11-6 win at Fresno State (Apr. 8), she had four goals, four ground balls, three caused turnovers, and two draws. She went on to break former St. Mary's standout Rachel Minarovich's conference draw record in the Oregon game with four. Courtney Neff had three of her five goals in overtime of the Cal game, and Melissa Kellan added four, as UCD exploded for a 5-0 OT period. Allie Lehner had seven draws vs. FSU.
DENVER (8-4 Overall, 3-2 MPSF) Nicole Martindale scored a career-high five goals, along with an assist, draw control, and caused turnover in a 17-10 MPSF road win at San Diego State (Apr. 10). Denver raced out to a 12-3 lead by halftime, as Martindale had five of her six points in the first 30 minutes. Rachael Dillon added a hat trick and Jill Remenapp dished three assists, bringing her MPSF record total to 174. The Pioneers stay on the road this week, visiting California and St. Mary's.
OREGON (10-5 Overall, 4-3 MPSF) picked up an MPSF road win at UC Davis (Apr. 12), 10-7, as Devon Frazer matched a career-high three goals and Cambi Cukar dished two assists. Cukar has 34 assists on the year, 10 away from the all-time Duck single-season record (Shannon Propst-44). Carly O'Connell, in addition to reaching a 12-game scoring streak, had four caused turnovers for the week to bring her UO ninth-place career total to 53 Oregon is off this week, and travels to Denver (Apr. 24) and Colorado (Apr. 26) to close the regular season.
COLORADO (7-5 Overall, 2-3 MPSF) Paige Soenksen collected 16 saves and allowed just six goals in a tight 7-6 conference road win at San Diego State (Apr. 12). Johnna Fusco had one goal, one assist, three caused turnovers, and four draw controls. Marie Moore added a hat trick, lifting the Buffs to a sixth-place tie with four to play. Darby Kiernan had four goals at USC, while Fusco and Moore had five draws each. Colorado stays on the road this week at St. Mary's and California.
FRESNO STATE (4-9 Overall, 2-5 MPSF) posted its first-ever win over California, 11-10, on Senior Day (Apr. 12). Freshman Lindsay Hobson put away a free position goal with six seconds left for the game-winner, in a game featuring five second-half lead changes. The Bulldogs picked up their program record fourth win. Caroline Dineen-Carlson scored three goals and won six draw controls in the win, and had four ground balls vs. UC Davis. Marcy Levatino broke all-time Bulldog points record with 86 in the UC Davis game. Fresno State ends the regular season at Colorado (Apr. 24) and Denver (Apr. 26).
SAN DIEGO STATE (8-5 Overall, 4-2 MPSF) Christina Ricciardulli recorded eight draw controls and three caused turnovers against Denver. She added four draws in the Colorado game, while Grace Korandovich caused three turnovers. The Aztecs travel to Stanford and UC Davis this week, and host USC (Apr. 25) to close the regular season.
ST. MARY'S (0-12 Overall, 0-6 MPSF) Megan Zummo scored twice and Megan Armes had two caused turnovers against No. 15 Stanford. Armes has 77 career caused turnovers, breaking into the MPSF's all-time top-10 list. The Gaels host Denver and Colorado this weekend.
CALIFORNIA (2-11 Overall, 1-5 MPSF) hosts its final three games, taking on Denver (Apr. 17), Colorado (Apr. 19), and Stanford (Apr. 26). Bella Huther scored five goals and had five ground balls, two caused turnovers, and one draw vs. UC Davis. Gaby Christman added two assists, two ground balls, two draws, and three caused turnovers in that game.