USC Wins First MPSF Title
May 1, 2016 MPSF Lacrosse Release 11
MPSF Lacrosse Final Regular Season Stats
MPSF Tournament Video Stream
MPSF TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE & RESULTS
Host: Stanford University
Laird Q. Cagan Stadium; Stanford, CA
All-Tournament Team
Ellie Delich, Attacker---UC Davis
Shannon Williams, Attacker---Oregon
Nicole Martindale, Attacker---Denver
Maddy Stevenson, Goalkeeper---Denver
Kelsie Garrison, Midfield---Colorado
Paige Soenksen, Goalkeeper---Colorado
Meg Lentz, Defender---Stanford
Adrienne Anderson, Defender---Stanford
Allie DaCar, Goalkeeper---Stanford
Amanda Johansen, Midfield---USC
Caroline DeLyra, Attacker---USC
Kelsey Dreyer, Midfield---USC
MPSF Tournament MVP: Courtney Tarleton, Defender---USC
Sunday, May 1 (Championship)
Game 5 -- No. 1 seed USC 8, No. 2 seed Stanford 5
Final Stats
Recap by USC Sports Information:
STANFORD, Calif. - The top-seeded and fifth-ranked USC women's lacrosse team (19-0) completed an 8-5 win over second-seeded tournament host No. 9 Stanford (14-4) to win the program's first MPSF title at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium on Sunday, May 1. The Women of Troy remained undefeated and will receive the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Championships, which begin May 13.
The 19 wins tie the most in a single season in MPSF history and gives head coach Lindsey Munday her 50th career victory. The Trojans became the first team in league history to go through both the regular season and the MPSF tournament undefeated.
The Women of Troy out-shot the Cardinal, 27-16, and won the center circle by a 9-6 margin in draw controls. Junior attacker Michaela Michael scored a hat trick and led all players with five draw controls. Senior attacker Caroline deLyra had two goals. Senior midfielder Amanda Johansen, and junior attackers Cynthia Del Core and Kylie Drexel each had goals to round out USC's scoring. Johansen had two of the Trojans' draw controls and Del Core produced two of the Trojans' three assists. Drexel had the other.
On defense, MPSF Player of the Year senior Courtney Tarleton caused two turnovers and picked up a ground ball and a draw control. In goal, sophomore Gussie Johns had four saves, caused a turnover, and picked up three ground balls. Sophomore defender Lydia Sutton and senior midfielder Kelsey Dreyer each had two ground balls.
For the Cardinal, Allie DaCar produced 14 saves in the cage. On offense, Anna Salemo had two goals, while Dillon Schoen, Laura Klein, and Alex Poplawski each had one. Meg Lentz had two caused turnovers, two ground balls, and a pair of caused turnovers to lead the Stanford defense.
USC opened up a 3-0 lead to start the game. It took just two and a half minutes for the Trojans to get on the board as deLyra shot low to the right for the goal. Michael pushed USC ahead, 2-0, when she bounced a shot past DaCar from the eight-meter arc. Methodical and patient, the USC offense waited for an opening and took it when Drexel dodged into the arc to put a shot past DaCar for the 3-0 advantage.
It took little time for Stanford to respond. 20 seconds after the USC goal, Salemo went on her own and scored to give the Cardinal its first scratch. Two minutes later, Schoen earned a free-position attempt and took a shot to score and trim the lead to a single goal at 3-2. Johansen extended USC back to a two-point lead when she dodged into the arc and scored for the 4-2 lead at 11:06. The Trojans held on to the two-goal lead thanks to a pair of big saves from Johns, including one on a free-position shot, but the Cardinal scored a man-up goal when Myers hit Salemo for the pass with 2:07 left on the clock. Michael won the next draw and the Trojans set up their offense. Del Core earned the free-position at 1:12 and went low to score and make the USC lead, 5-3, entering half time.
The Trojans' disruption of a Cardinal clear attempt allowed Dreyer to scoop up a ground ball. The ball found its way to Del Core who hit Michael in stride for the shot and goal less than 90 seconds into the second half for a 6-3 lead. Stanford survived three USC free-position attempts including with three saves by DaCar to stay within three down to the 16-minute mark. Following a successful clear, Stanford brought the Trojans back to within two as Klein's free-position shot trickled across the line for the goal at 15:11.
The teams went back and forth for more than 12 minutes before a stop on the defensive end allowed the Trojans to settle into an offense under the three-minute mark. Michael, with the ball at the top of the 12-meter fan, made a move to free herself from her defender, went to goal and shot high for the Trojans' seventh goal and a three-goal lead with 2:40 left to play. The Cardinal won the next draw, but the Women of Troy forced another turnover with under two minutes to go and cleared the ball. deLyra got the ball behind the goal, came in front and put three stick fakes on DaCar to score high and give USC its 8-4 lead. Stanford scored one more goal but Michael secured the final draw to allow the Trojans to run the clock out and finish the 8-5 victory.
The Women of Troy now await seeding and placement in the 26-team 2016 NCAA tournament. Selections will be announced on NCAA.com on Sunday, May 8, at 6 p.m. PT. The championship tournament begins on the weekend of May 13 and will conclude the weekend of May 27 in Philadelphia, Pa.
Friday, April 29 (Semifinals)
Game 3 - No. 1 Seed USC 10, No. 5 seed Denver 5
Final Stats
Recap by USC Sports Information:
STANFORD, Calif. - The top-seeded and fifth-ranked USC women's lacrosse team (18-0) defeated fifth-seeded Denver (9-9) in the semifinals of the 2016 MPSF Tournament at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium on Friday, April 29. The Women of Troy pushed their school-record winning streak to 18 games and set a new MPSF record with 18 consecutive victories.
The Trojans out-shot the Pioneers, 30-11, in the game and won the edge in ground balls, 16-10. USC forced Denver into 17 turnovers with 11 credited as caused.
Four USC starters scored two goals apiece. Senior midfielder Amanda Johansen led all players with four points on two goals and a pair of helpers. Johansen also had three draw controls. Junior attacker Michaela Michael scored two and had one assist. She led the Trojans' in the center circle with four draw controls. Senior attacker Caroline deLyra also scored two and had an assist. Junior attacker Gabby McMahon also had a pair of goals. The Trojans also got goals from junior attacker Cynthia Del Core and senior midfielder Kelsey Dreyer.
On defense, MPSF Player of the Year Courtney Tarleton caused a turnover and picked up a pair of ground balls. She also grabbed a draw control. Sophomore defender Lydia Sutton led the team with four ground balls and caused three turnovers. Junior defender Nina Kelty had three caused turnovers and three ground balls. Sophomore goalie Gussie Johns had three saves in the cage and picked up four ground balls to go with a caused turnover.
For the Pioneers, Nicole Martindale had the hat trick. Riley Eggeman and Elizabeth Behrins had the other two Denver goals. Behrins and Caitlin Derry had one assist each. Maddy Stevenson took the loss with 10 goals against, but didn't go quietly as she finished with 12 saves. Ellie Knott led all players with five draw controls.
Denver scored the first goal of the game just over six minutes into the first half. Behrins went to goal unassisted off a breakaway and scored to put the Pioneers on top early. It took the Trojans five minutes to respond, but Del Core answered with a free-position goal to knot the score. A minute later, Martindale scored on a free-position shot to get Denver a 2-1 lead with 18:30 on the clock. USC scored the next three goals to go on top, 4-2. Johansen's run of the field got her the shot she needed for the equalizer at two-all. She then passed to deLyra out of her free position, who went over Stevenson's shoulder for a 3-2 Trojan lead. Down to two minutes in the first half, McMahon scored from the eight-meter arc to get USC on top, 4-2, but Martindale found the back of the goal with nine seconds before halftime and pulled the Pioneers within a goal, 4-3, heading into the break.
14 minutes went off the clock to start the second half before USC found an opening as Johansen fed deLyra for the shot and goal. The goal sparked a 4-0 Trojan run to make the score 8-3 with under 10 minutes to play. A minute after deLyra's goal, Johansen scored her second on a free-position shot. Five minutes later, Dreyer scored unassisted and then Michael dodged her way through the Pioneer defense for the goal at 9:19. Martindale had the answer to trim the lead to four at 8-4, but the Trojans kept the ball away long enough to force Denver to take yellow cards during the chase. McMahon scored off an assist from Michael at 2:50 and then Michael scored off an assist from deLyra at 2:14. USC tried to run out the clock, but Denver scored the final goal under a minute left to make the score 10-5.
The Trojans will play in their second consecutive MPSF title game and will face either second-seeded host No. 9 Stanford (13-3) or third-seeded Colorado (12-4) on Sunday (May 1) at 1 p.m. PT at Cagan Stadium.
Game 4 -- No. 2 Seed Stanford 11, No. 3 Colorado 6
Final Stats
Recap By Colorado Sports Information:
STANFORD, Calif. - Colorado had a five-game winning streak snapped as the Buffaloes were eliminated from the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament in the semifinals in an 11-6 loss to No. 9/8 Stanford on Friday night.
"Stanford's a good team," head coach Ann Elliott said. "We knew we had to come out and compete for 60 minutes and we didn't get it done."
The third time was not the charm as CU was eliminated in the semifinals by Stanford for the third consecutive year.
The loss drops the Buffaloes to 13-5 overall and they will be on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament, which will be announced on Sunday, May 8. Stanford, ranked No. 9 in the coaches' poll and No. 8 in the media poll, improved to 14-3. The Cardinal is the No. 2 seed in the tournament and will face top-seeded Southern California, ranked No. 5 and No. 4, respectively, in the championship on Sunday.
CU's chances of a postseason at-large bid will come down to the wire and will depend on automatic bids from other conferences. The latest RPI has the Buffaloes ranked 30th in the nation and 26 teams will be selected to the tournament.
Colorado led 4-3 in the first half, but endured nearly a 42-minute scoreless streak as Stanford took control of the game.
"Stanford's a good defensive team," Elliott said. "You have to score goals to win and they outplayed us on that end."
The Cardinal got on the board first, scoring at 28:03 in the first half.
CU tied the game at 26:31 when Marie Moore had a free-position attempt and instead of shooting, passed to Katie Macleay who cut in front of the goal and scored.
Darby Kiernan gave Colorado a 2-1 lead at 21:22, dodging and spinning from the top of the arc, working her way towards the net for left-handed shot. The Buffs won the ensuing draw, but following a turnover, Stanford quickly scored in transition to tie the game at 20:22.
Stanford scored another quick goal at 19:50 to take a 3-2 lead, but CU answered right back to tie it at 19:14 as Sarah Lautman scored.
The Buffs regained the lead at 4-3 after Moore scored on a free-position shot at 15:41.
After Stanford tied it up at 13:43, both teams went on the defensive for the next 10 minutes. The Buffs were handed a yellow card with 3:56 left in the half and the Cardinal took advantage.
Stanford broke the goalless streak with 3:14 remaining and led 6-4 with another goal at the 2:38 mark, taking advantage of a man-up situation with both scores. That score remained into halftime.
Stanford ended up with a 13-12 shot advantage at the break.
Stanford scored four goals in the first 19 minutes of the second half, stretching its streak to seven unanswered goals to take a 10-4 lead.
Carly Cox broke the 41-minute, 47-second scoring drought with 3:54 remaining in the game, trimming the deficit to 10-5.
Stanford tacked on another goal before Macleay scored with 1:57 remaining for the final margin.
For the game, the Cardinal outshot CU 21-19 and forced 15 Colorado turnovers.
Paige Soenksen made six saves in goal for the Buffaloes. Kelsie Garrison led the defense with a career-high five ground balls.
Kelsey Murray and Dillon Schoen led Stanford with three goals each.
As for making the NCAA Tournament, Elliott says it's completely up in the air right now.
"We honestly don't know," Elliott said. "There's still a week-and-a-half of games for a lot of other schools so we will have to wait and see. We had to get the job done today and get a win and we didn't. As of now, our season's over."
If it is the end of the season for the Buffaloes, it will be remembered as the best season in the program's three-year history. CU set a school record with 13 wins and finished third in the MPSF with a 7-2 conference record and made great strides offensively and defensively. Entering Friday's game, the Buffs had the seventh-best scoring margin in the country and the 10th-best scoring defense.
Lautman is the only senior on the team and the first senior in program history. Thursday, April 28 (Quarterfinals)
Game 1 - No. 3 Seed Colorado 11, No. 6 Seed Oregon 3
Final Stats
Recap By Colorado Sports Information:
STANFORD, Calif. - Colorado dominated defensively for 60 minutes on Thursday in an 11-3 win over Oregon in the quarterfinals of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation conference tournament at Stanford.
CU improved to 13-4 this season, a program-best record, and will face No. 9/8 Stanford at 7 p.m. PT/8 p.m. MT on Friday. CU is the No. 3 seed and Stanford is the No. 2 seed.
The win came just four days after the Buffaloes defeated Oregon 14-9 in Eugene, Ore., to end the regular season.
"We knew coming out here we had to show up and perform for 60 minutes or that would be the end [of our season]," head coach Ann Elliott said. "The girls did a good job competing. Defensively, we improved from Sunday and we did a good job throughout. We 're excited to play again on Friday against Stanford."
Cali Castagnola led CU with three goals off the bench, and Carly Cox and Johnna Fusco each scored twice.
Oregon was very aggressive on defense, pressuring the length of the field early on. The Buffs were finally able to exploit the aggressive defense at 22:35 when Castagnola scored the first goal of the game.
"Oregon is so dangerous defensively because they play so many ways--they came out in a double faceguard, then played zone, then man-to-man," Elliott said. "It took a little while to adjust and get into a rhythm and once we did, we did a good job finishing. We will need to be prepared for that again tomorrow because Stanford can beat you different ways too."
Following a save by Paige Soenksen, CU marched right down the field and scored in transition as Cox scored at 20:39. She scored again one minute later to put CU in front 3-0 and force an Oregon timeout.
Castagnola broke a nearly nine-minute scoring drought with a goal at 10:44 off a free-position shot, coming from the right side of the goal across to the left before shooting. Just one minute later, it was Sarah Lautman's turn with a goal off a free-position shot as CU built a 5-0 lead.
With 2:58 remaining in the half, Fusco scored for CU. Oregon finally got on the board with 37.6 seconds left as CU went into halftime with a 6-1 lead.
Soenksen made five saves in the first half as Colorado outshot Oregon 15-8. Four of CU's six first-half turnovers came in the first 10 minutes.
CU started the second half slowly offensively and Oregon was the first on the board in the second half, scoring with 22:23 remaining and leading to a CU timeout.
Fusco broke the scoring drought, running from behind the goal and shooting from in front of the net at 17:37 to give the Buffs a 7-2 lead.
With Fusco's goal, Colorado went on to score four goals in a span of 91 seconds. Castagnola netted her first hat trick since March 27 at the 16:59 mark. Kelsie Garrison then scored her first career goal at 16:30, pushing forward from the midfield zone after a foul on the ensuing draw. Katie Macleay capped the scoring run 24 seconds later.
Colorado maintained possession for the final 6:40, scoring a goal with 1:55 remaining by Tori Link after Oregon pulled its goalkeeper, and winning the ensuing draw.
Soenksen had one of the most efficient games of her career with nine saves on 12 shots on goal faced. Her defense helped force Oregon into 12 turnovers. CU outshot the Ducks 25-16 in the game.
"[Defense] was definitely a topic for us all week," Elliott said. "Watching film from Sunday, they knew they had to do a better job. They came ready and I think [the defenders] had a chip on their shoulder from hearing it all week [from the coaching staff]. Our defense forced some tough shots and Paige came up big and we needed that to get the win."
Darby Kiernan was held scoreless for the first time in 13 games, but was key for CU in the draw circle, helping the Buffaloes win 12 of 18 draws with a team-high three draw controls.
Game 2 - No. 5 Seed Denver 15, No. 4 Seed UC Davis 4
Final Stats
Recap By Denver Sports Information:
STANFORD, Calif. - The University of Denver women's lacrosse team defeated the UC Davis Aggies 15-4 Thursday to advance to Friday's MPSF semifinal game against No. 1 seed [4/5] USC at 5 p.m. MT at Stanford University. The Pioneers earn a winning record for the first time this season at 9-8.
Denver held the Aggies scoreless for 41:17 and rattled off 13-straight goals to move past UC Davis into the MPSF semifinals.
Senior captain Christa Reese (Lutherville, Md.) scored four goals and added two assists for DU, while Nicole Martindale (Brooklin, Ontario) recorded seven points in the win, including a career-high four assists.
The Aggies began the scoring 2:20 into the game, but the Pioneers quickly matched them at one goal 0:39 later as senior captain Sarah Kasun (Bel Air, Md.) scored off Martindale's first assist of the night. UC Davis added one more goal with 25:56 remaining in the first half, but that would be the Aggies' final goal before Denver's run of 13.
Freshman Audrey Schreck (Charlottesville, Va.) kicked off the run as she converted on a free position goal to tie the game 2-2 with 21:56 to play in the first half. Casey White (Queensbury, N.Y.) finished an assist from Reese to give the Pioneers their permanent lead before Reese scored her first of the night on a free position attempt with 15:04 remaining in the first half.
Elizabeth Behrins (Basking Ridge, N.J.) continued the run with an unassisted goal, then Reese scored in transition off an assist from Schreck. Martindale increased Denver's lead to 7-2 with 7:35 to play in the first half with her first goal of the game. Reese completed her ninth hat trick of the season with 1:10 remaining in the first half to give DU the decisive 8-2 advantage at halftime.
Denver came out firing in the second half, scoring four goals in the first 4:06 of the second half. Kendra Lanuza (Littleton, Colo.) kicked off the scoring as she finished a goal off a Martindale assist just 0:29 into the period. Martindale dished another assist to another freshman as Behrins scored her second of the game 0:28 later for the 10-2 DU lead.
Caitlin Derry (Seal Beach, Calif.) found the back of the net as Behrins passed her the ball after drawing a free position opportunity with 27:05 to play in the game. Martindale closed out the four-goal run to begin the second half with a free position goal that gave Denver the 12-2 and running clock advantage over UC Davis.
Martindale scored her third goal of the game with 19:13 to play in an unsettled situation off an assist from Reese, then Reese scored an unassisted goal with 16:10 remaining in the game to increase the Pioneers' lead to 14-2 and DU's run to 13-straight goals.
UC Davis scored two of the final three goals for the final score of 15-4. Monica Lucas (Kensington, Md.) was the ninth and final Pioneer to score, as she finished an assist from Martindale with 12:44 remaining in the game. The Aggies converted on a free position to close out the game.
Denver outshot UC Davis 27 to 18, while goalkeeper Maddy Stevenson (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) made eight saves for a .667 save percentage in the game. The Pioneers also protected the ball, finishing 15-of-16 on clears and committing four fewer turnovers than the Aggies.
Denver will play 17-0 USC Friday at 5 p.m. MT in the first MPSF Semifinal game. USC sits at 17-0 behind MPSF Coach of the Year Lindsey Munday and MPSF Player of the Year Courtney Tarlton.
BYE--No. 1 Seed USC and No. 2 Seed Stanford