No. 16 Women’s Lacrosse Upends No. 20 USC, 11-8
A strong third quarter pushed No. 16 Princeton past No. 20 USC as the Tigers broke open a tie game with three quick goals en route to an 11-8 win over the Trojans at Sherrerd Field.
Seven different players scored at least one goal for the Tigers, including McKenzie Blake, Samantha DeVito, Kate Mulham and Grace Tauckus who each had two.
3:52 (3rd) Kate The Great!
Mulham goes low-to-high with a purpose for an 8-6 Princeton lead!@NCAALAX | @ILWomen | @USALacrosseMag pic.twitter.com/0B78gLqnNE
— Princeton Women’s Lax (@princetonwlax) March 10, 2023
Ellie Mueller had one goal, but her key contribution came on the draw where she won nine draw controls – after not having won any over the first 22 games of her career.
Amelia Hughes made 14 saves in goal – including seven in the first quarter.
Amelia Says No!
11th save of the afternoon is a dandy from Amelia Hughes! pic.twitter.com/gKmC74ax2t
— Princeton Women’s Lax (@princetonwlax) March 10, 2023
The win is the first at home this season for the Tigers who improve to 3-2 overall, and is Princeton’s second over a Top-20 team in the last 10 days after an 18-12 win at No. 14 Rutgers last week.
The Tigers struck for the first two goals, with Jami MacDonald scoring 3:38 into the game and Kari Buonanno following up just past the midway mark of the first quarter.
Hughes stood tall in the period, denying multiple point-blank Trojan shots until USC clawed back even with two goals before the end of the stanza off the sticks of Maddie Dora and Isabelle Vitale.
Samantha DeVito opened the scoring in the second quarter, taking a quick pass from MacDonald and sending a rocket high and inside the left post 1:41 into the second.
13:19 (2nd) DeVito With De-Rocket!
Quick pass from Jami sends DeVito into launch mode from point-blank and we lead, 3-2! pic.twitter.com/e3l0mBbl0V
— Princeton Women’s Lax (@princetonwlax) March 10, 2023
Neither team would score for nearly 10 minutes before the Trojans again pulled even when Ella Heaney scored with 3:00 left in the half.
Ellie Mueller would counter 0:48 later for Princeton, picking up a loose ball within close range of the USC net and ripping it by Kait Devir.
2:12 (2nd) Full Effort From Ellie Mueller!
Bit of a scramble drill for the Tigers and Ellie Mueller scoops the ball off the floor and fires it home for a 4-3 lead! pic.twitter.com/xPunQSw2pA
— Princeton Women’s Lax (@princetonwlax) March 10, 2023
USC took its first lead of the game early in the third quarter with two goals in a span of 0:58. Claudia Shevitz scored first, and Dora followed under a minute later with a pair of goals from in close range.
McKenzie Blake made that lead short-lived with two goals in less than a minute. She connected for her first of the game just 1:15 after USC had taken its lead, and followed with a clean finish of a Kari Buonanno pass 0:50 later.
After Shevitz tied the game at 6-6 with 5:31 left in the third quarter, Princeton went on a run to close out the third quarter.
DeVito regained the lead for the Tigers with a free position goal with 4:53 left in the third, before Kate Mulham unleashed a low-to-high laser a minute later to give Princeton an 8-6 lead.
Grace Tauckus then scored back-to-back free position goals – the first with 1:03 left in the third quarter and the second 1:10 into the fourth – as Princeton took a 10-6 lead.
USC finally ended the Princeton run with a Maggie Brown goal 3:16 into the fourth quarter – ending a nearly nine-minute goalless drought. She was first to the rebound after Hughes stopped a USC free position, nudging the ball just over the line for the goal.
Mulham would cap the scoring for Princeton with a solo effort down the middle of USC’s defense with 4:43 to play in the game. USC tacked on a final goal from Maggie Brown with 0:57 left, but the Tigers won the ensuing draw and were able to run out the clock.
Princeton is off until March 18 when the Tigers host Penn State at Sherrerd Field at 12 p.m.
