NCAA Rewind: Big Ten-Bound USC Says So Long to Pac-12

Before USA Lacrosse Magazine looks ahead to what’s to come in 2025 — look out for our NCAA Way-Too-Early Top 25 rankings later this summer — our team of staff and contributors decided it was worth taking a last look at the 2024 college lacrosse season.

To do that, we’re taking a journey through 30 of the top teams in men’s and women’s lacrosse to see what went right, what went wrong and how we should feel about the season.

USC

USA Lacrosse preseason/final ranking: 16th/not ranked
2024 record: 12-6 (6-1 Pac-12)

What went right: The Trojans opened the season on the East Coast and showed no signs of jet lag in wins over Army (13-9) and Villanova (12-11). The Trojans played eventual regular-season and tournament champion Stanford tough in an 8-6 loss, its lone conference defeat of the year. But they had hosting rights for the final Pac-12 tournament due to a pre-determined site. Ella Heaney closed her career in style, leading USC with 73 points and 43 goals. Heaney was named Pac-12 Attacker of the Year and joined Isabelle Vitale (23G, 42A), who is slated to return in 2025, as a USA Lacrosse honorable mention All-American.

What went wrong: Losses to Michigan (9-3) and Johns Hopkins (13-10) didn’t help the Trojans’ resume for an at-large bid, nor did falling to unranked Dartmouth 17-12 on March 18. The most significant bummer came in a 12-9 loss to Colorado — a team it had dominated less than two weeks earlier in a 15-6 win — in the Pac-12 semis. It cost the Trojans a chance to defend their Pac-12 crown and play Stanford for the first time in a conference title game in the league’s swan song. 

Season highlight: USC’s 15-6 win over Colorado on April 21 saw a pair of veterans shine in their final regular-season home game at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum. Heaney tallied a career-high six helpers, while senior Claudia Shevitz led the game with four goals. The win also marked the 150th in Lindsey Munday’s career and saw Vitale post her 200th career point. 

Verdict: The season certainly didn’t end the way the Trojans wanted, and at least making the conference championship game may have earned them an at-large bid into the NCAAs. Yet, calling a year ending with a 6-1 conference mark a failure would be harsh. The Trojans had a good year, and the talented crop of veterans performed as advertised, even if the Colorado forced an earlier-than-anticipated end to the 2024 season. What happens next will be interesting as USC joins the Big Ten for the 2025 season.