Vol. 4: Stanford Comes out on Top of Pac-12 Shakeup
The No. 19 Cardinal's late-game heroics set the stage for an OT victory over Colorado, which vaulted Stanford past defending conference champ USC.
Fifth-year middie Mikaela Watson fires a shot past Colorado goalkeeper Julia Lisella for the overtime game-winner on March 20. Photo courtesy: Ed Gjertsen II.
Last week, Stanford’s home matchup against USC was postponed because of a positive COVID-19 test within the Trojans’ program. But the Cardinal didn’t have to wait for a rescheduled meeting to leapfrog its conference foe in the league standings.
All it needed was a little second-half mojo in Boulder and a historic win from the Pac-12’s youngest program.
Stanford came back from a 9-6 deficit at Colorado, in large part thanks to Mikaela Watson, who scored two of the Cardinal’s final four goals, including the game-winner in overtime. But Katherine Gjertsen kickstarted Stanford’s 3-0 late-game run. The senior attacker scored with 13:48 left. Four and a half minutes later, a Watson free-position shot pulled Stanford within one. Then Jacie Lemos sent the game to overtime.
Well, it wasn’t that quick. Or easy.
From the 9:08 mark up until the final minute of regulation, Stanford mustered only one shot and committed four turnovers, three of which were caused by the Buffs’ defense. With the clock ticking, second-year head coach Danielle Spencer pulled goalie Trudie Grattan, and the Cardinal went pedal to the metal on the break. It paid off. Daniella McMahon fed Lemos, who hurled a shot past Colorado netminder Julia Lisella with 22 seconds to go, tying the game at 9-9.
Watson took care of the rest in overtime. Muscling through contact, the fifth-year midfielder cradled amid traffic before icing the game at the doorstep of the crease.
The day before, something even crazier happened.
Arizona State not only beat USC for the first time in its four-year infancy, but it did so in convincing fashion. The Sun Devils scored in the game’s opening 24 seconds, took an 11-6 halftime lead, and eventually forced a running clock, marking just the second time a USC opponent has ever staked itself to a double-digit lead while on the road.
Behind stellar performances from reigning Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week Kerri Clayton (6 goals, 5 assists) and Carley Adams (5 goals, 1 assist), ASU polished off a 20-9 victory in Los Angeles. It was the second of three straight wins for the Sun Devils, who are now 5-2 after taking down UC Davis, 19-14, on Sunday.
Graduate attacker Carley Adams moves toward the goal against UC Davis on March 21. Adams collected nine points over the weekend. Photo courtesy: Arizona State Athletics.
But to put ASU’s shellacking of the Women of Troy in perspective, the Sun Devils were previously 0-5 against USC. They had never scored more than 10 goals in a single game against the Trojans and were outscored a combined 83-25 in the teams’ previous meetings. ASU’s win also snapped USC’s eight-game home streak.
The Sun Devils are just getting started. ASU elevated from club to varsity status in 2018, which prompted the Pac-12’s existing programs to leave the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) and create a six-member women’s lacrosse conference. Four years later, ASU is a legitimate Pac-12 contender.
For now, though, the league’s top spot belongs to Stanford.
The Cardinal is undefeated in conference play and owns the tiebreaker over the Sun Devils, courtesy of a 15-9 win over ASU on March 12. And, on Monday, Stanford further cemented its first place hold with a 17-13 win at Oregon, moving to 4-0.
Other Notable Storylines:
1) It’s time to hop aboard the Izzy Scane train. Northwestern’s junior attacker leads the country with 43 goals after piling up a whopping 16 in two games against Rutgers this past weekend. Scane tallied a career-high and school-record 10 on Friday, propelling the No. 3 Wildcats to a 22-10 win over the Scarlet Knights. Notably, the Tewaaraton candidate also notched nine goals in the season opener against Ohio State. Her weekend scoring surge continued on Sunday with a six-goal effort, and Northwestern coasted to a 21-7 victory, handing Rutgers its fourth straight loss. All in all, Scane converted 16 of her 23 shots throughout the weekend. Her prolific scoring overshadowed senior Lauren Gilbert’s nine total goals in the one-sided Big Ten series.
2) North Carolina won its third straight against JMU with blowout victory. Ever since the Dukes upset the Tar Heels in the 2018 Final Four en route to the program’s first-ever national title, UNC has done everything it can to avenge that semifinal defeat. Head coach Jenny Levy’s team opened the 2019 and 2020 seasons with 18-7 and 15-7 victories over the Dukes. And this year, the No. 1 Tar Heels produced a similar result. Katie Hoeg tied her career high with nine points (5 goals, 4 assists), Jamie Ortega added four goals, Scottie Rose Growney pitched in a hat trick, and Taylor Moreno improved to 38-5 in net, as UNC rode to a 15-5 win. The Tar Heels won the turnover battle, 20-8, and outshot JMU, 36-20. It could have been more lopsided had Dukes goalie Molly Dougherty not made 13 saves, including nine second-half stops.
3) Florida bounced back from Jacksonville defeat with sweep of No. 20 Temple. Last week, the Gators were on the wrong side of history, suffering their first-ever loss to a budding Jacksonville program. No. 11 Florida turned things around in Philly, ending Temple’s short stay in the Top 20. Fifth-year defender Cara Trombetta held Temple’s leading points scorer Meghan Hoffman to just one assist and two shots Friday. Shannon Kavanagh matched her season high with five goals, Grace Haus logged a hat trick (including her 100th career goal), and the Gators cruised to a 15-9 victory. It was more of the same on Sunday. Despite losing the battle in the circle for the second game in a row, Florida handled the Owls, 14-7. The Gators’ defense caused 12 turnovers and limited Temple to 28% shooting, rolling to a 2-0 start in AAC play.
4) Charlotte North and Boston College continued their tear. The No. 5 Eagles trounced Hofstra, 19-7, on the road Saturday, climbing to 5-1 on the season. Charlotte North scored six or more goals for the second straight game. Long Island native Belle Smith showed out back in her neck of the woods. Smith, a true freshman who was ranked the No. 2 overall Class of 2021 recruit by Inside Lacrosse, scored on all four of her shots. This cutting backhander was the cream of the crop. Cara Urbank had herself a day, too. The graduate attacker set a career high with seven points (2 goals, 5 assists). Perhaps most impressive, though, the Eagles’ defense kept Hofstra star Alyssa Parrella in check. A week removed from her 10-goal outburst, Parrella registered just one goal and one shot all afternoon. BC has outscored its last two opponents, 39-18.
Freshman midfielder Belle Smith pushes the ball downfield during BC’s 19-7 win at Hofstra on March 20. She has scored 13 goals on 17 shots this year. Photo courtesy: BC Athletics.
5) Duke-Virginia and Penn State-Michigan bucked the doubleheader trend. Because of COVID-19, pandemic-adjusted schedules have featured an array of two-game weekend series this year. It’s mostly resulted in sweeps. But the ACC and Big Ten gave us a pair of entertaining splits this time around. A 6-0 run to the start the second half boosted No. 8 Duke to a 17-8 Friday victory at No. 9 UVA—a game that saw eight different Blue Devils find the back of the net. On Sunday, though, the Cavaliers snapped their two-game skid, and Taylor Regan’s four second-half goals were a big reason why. Similarly, the first leg of Penn State-Michigan was settled at the start of the second period when the Wolverines stitched together a 4-0 run. The Nittany Lions made it close but never recovered. It wasn’t until game two that Penn State got its revenge. Michigan graduate midfielder Molly Garrett racked up a personal-best seven goals, including the equalizer with two ticks left in regulation. But Maria Auth put the back-and-forth affair to bed with 38 seconds remaining in overtime. Talk about drama.
Numbers to Know:
155 - career assists for Loyola’s Livy Rosenzweig, the most in program history. The senior attacker had seven feeders in the No. 13 Greyhound’s 21-3 win over Bucknell on Saturday, breaking the school’s all-time assist record in the process.
11.1 - average scoring margin of UNC’s nine games, the highest of any team with multiple outings under its belt this season. The Tar Heels have outscored their opponents, 151-51, in 2021.
.639 - save percentage recorded by Jacksonville goalie Dayna Martinetto in five games this year. She made eight stops and allowed only three goals in the Dolphins’ 10-9 win at Virginia Tech on Saturday.
Junior goalie Dayna Martinetto positions herself in net during Jacksonville’s first-ever victory over Florida on March 13. Photo courtesy: Duncan Boone/Jacksonville Athletics.
Tewaaraton Watch:
NOTE: As the season progresses, I’ll also track draw control, ground ball, and caused turnover leaders. Because of COVID-19 and the various postponements (and game totals), I’ve also broken down scoring categories in game averages. Stats are correct through March 21.
POINTS LEADERS
POINTS PER GAME LEADERS
GOALS LEADERS
GOALS PER GAME LEADERS
Latest Inside Lacrosse Poll
NOTE: screenshots pulled from insidelacrosse.com.
Make that six straight weeks for UNC atop the table. Syracuse, Northwestern, and Notre Dame stay put at No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4, respectively. Despite its dominant performance at Hofstra, BC remains at No. 5. Both Duke and UVA bumped up a spot after trading wins during their weekend doubleheader. Penn State and Michigan’s two-game split delivered a different outcome: The 3-4 Wolverines skyrocketed from the receiving votes section to No. 14, while the 3-3 Nittany Lions dropped from No. 7 to No. 10. Jacksonville, now No. 11, continued to climb after its nail-biting, overtime win at Virginia Tech and 16-5 victory over Radford. Eleven of the top-15 teams are represented by either the ACC or the Big Ten. Towson and Temple bowed out of the Top 20 this week, and 5-0 Elon cracked the poll’s rankings for the first time this year.
What’s Ahead?
NOTE: all times listed in EST.
No. 9 Maryland @ No. 3 Northwestern, March 27, 12 p.m. & March 29, 1 p.m.
No. 4 Notre Dame @ No. 7 Duke, March 28, 1 p.m.
No. 15 Louisville @ No. 5 BC, March 26, 7 p.m. & March 28, 11 a.m.
No. 20 Elon @ High Point, March 27, 1 p.m.
Hope you enjoyed this edition of the Quick on the Draw newsletter. If you liked it or know someone who will, please share! We’ll be back next Monday for more coverage.