Stanford, USC Enter National Top-10 Poll
March 21, 2016 MPSF Lacrosse Release 6
No. 9 STANFORD (1-0 MPSF/5-1 Overall) never trailed at home against No. 8 Penn State (Mar. 20), recording a 16-10 win. Lucy Dikeou turned in a remarkable all-around game. She finished with six draw controls, four goals, one assist, one ground ball, and three caused turnovers, in just 33 minutes of playing time. Alex Poplawski also contributed four goals, and Anna Salemo delivered a hat trick. Kelly Myers scored twice and won five draws. Allie DaCar tallied nine saves and four ground balls in goal. The Cardinal, who jumped five spots in the latest IWLCA national rankings to No. 9, take five-straight wins to No. 19 Johns Hopkins (Mar. 23) live on ESPNU at 3 pm (PT).
No. 8 USC (2-0 MPSF/7-0 Overall) won its first two MPSF games convincingly this past weekend, 15-2 at California and 20-3 at St. Mary's, and was awarded a program-high No. 8 IWLCA ranking this week. The Trojans also took down No. 11 Stony Brook, 14-10 (Mar. 14), and remain one of three unbeaten teams across the country. Kylie Drexel accumulated 11 goals with three-straight hat tricks and a .933 shots-on-goal percentage, as well as an assist, five draws, and four ground balls over the three wins. Gussie Johns totaled 14 saves for the week, and helped keep Cal scoreless for a school record 41-plus minutes. Jackie Gilbert won seven draw controls, caused two turnovers, and picked up three ground balls in two games .
CALIFORNIA (1-1 MPSF/3-4 Overall) earned a dramatic 10-9 sudden-victory overtime conference home win over San Diego State (Mar. 20). Jenny Wilkens became the 10th MPSF goalkeeper all-time to record 20 saves in a game (.690 save percentage), while it was the sixth such total in a conference game. The 20 saves also tied for third most in Cal's single-game history. Wilkens, Cal's ground ball leader with 21 on the year, picked up four in the win. Kate Mattimore put away the free-position OT game-winner.
COLORADO (2-0 MPSF/6-1 Overall) scored 15 unanswered goals over a 36 minute stretch Monday (Mar. 21), en route to a 19-4 home win over Marist for its fourth-straight victory. The Buffs allowed the first goal 12 seconds into the game, and did not give up another until 19:18 left in the game. Johnna Fusco put away four goals and dished two assists, while Carly Cox and Darby Kiernan each recorded hat tricks. Katie Macleay recorded four assists, and Marie Moore tallied six draw controls, four ground balls, and three caused turnovers.
OREGON (1-0 MPSF/6-2 Overall) defeated Marist at home, 14-10 (Mar. 19). NCAA assist leader Cambi Cukar collected three more to her total, and picked up three ground balls. Cukar now owns 63 career assists, breaking into the Ducks' all-time top-five list Jenna Morris had a season-high nine saves along with three ground balls in a complete game in goal.
SAN DIEGO STATE (1-1 MPSF/2-6 Overall) recorded an MPSF road win at St. Mary's (Mar. 18), 17-4. Alexa Comfort put away three goals and one assist, while causing a pair of turnovers. Vickie Porter, Alex Watson, and Grace McGinty each added two goals. Kristen Hickey collected four ground balls and four caused turnovers.
DENVER (1-1 MPSF/3-5 Overall) Elizabeth Behrins scored twice for the second-straight outing, while Maddie Stevenson caused two turnovers and grabbed six saves in the neutral site game vs. Dartmouth (at USC, Mar. 20).
ST. MARY'S (0-4 MPSF/0-7 Overall) Hanna Dalrymple scored twice and Molly Kuptz had four draw controls vs. USC (Mar. 20). They each also had four draws vs. SDSU (Mar. 18), while Claire Healy had a team-best two goals.
UC DAVIS (1-0 MPSF/3-2 Overall) Courtney Neff completed a hat trick with an overtime game-winner to give the Aggies a 10-9 result over Vermont (Mar. 8). Melissa Kellan dished a career-high four assists. In a 19-7 MPSF-opening victory over St. Mary's (Mar. 13), Neff tallied three assists, three ground balls and two caused turnovers. Tess Kevorkian had three ground balls and four caused turnovers through the week, while Taylor Cuenin put away four of her five goals in the conference win. UC Davis hosts Drexel Saturday (Mar. 26) after a 13-day layoff.
FRESNO STATE (0-3 MPSF/3-5 Overall) defeated Furman 7-4 last Monday (Mar. 7), and thus was off to its best start in school history with three wins in its first six games. The Bulldogs locked down defensively, allowing a program-best four goals. Nicole Ortlieb and Sarah Bloise put away two goals apiece. Caroline Dineen-Carlson became the Bulldogs' all-time draw control leader at Oregon after recording six on the day, while Ortlieb tallied a hat trick and Meganne Weissenfels had 11 saves and seven ground balls.