Maddie McDaniel was a draw specialist in every sense of the phrase during her four-year career at James Madison. She set both the Dukes’ and the CAA’s single-season record in draws (127) in her stellar 2019 campaign and was on pace for another big year in 2020.

She has since traded the purple and gold of James Madison for the red and gold of USC, but McDaniel is still dominating in the circle. The graduate attacker led the Women of Troy with 13 draw controls in their 20-6 win over San Diego State on Saturday, tying for the third-most draw controls in a single game in program history. Not a bad debut.

Snapshots from San Diego #FightOn #Pac12Lax

@SanDiegoPhotog Derrick Tuskan / SDSU Athletics pic.twitter.com/FL3hkKIPbi

— USC Women's Lacrosse (@USCTrojansLax) February 17, 2021

USC finished with a 6-0 record in the shortened 2020 campaign, but it struggled on the draw. The Trojans lost the draw control battle in five of their six matchups and averaged a conference-low 11 per game. The Women of Troy also lost Kerrigan Miller and Kaeli Huff to the transfer portal, both of whom were important pieces on that draw circle in their four years in SoCal.

It looks like McDaniel may have solved that problem. At the very least, she could help lessen the blow of losing those two program staples. Her 13 draws were the most by any player in the Pac-12 in the first weekend of games and tied for the second-most in a single game among all players in the country.

She’ll face two early tests next week. In a key early season trip to the East Coast, No. 14 USC plays No. 7 Stony Brook on Tuesday and No. 17 Boston College on Friday. Stony Brook held its own on the draw in a 14-7 loss to No. 1 North Carolina last week.

Boston College, led by attacker Charlotte North, won the draw control battle in all seven games of 2020. The end-of-week matchup in Chestnut Hill should be an exciting showdown between two of the country’s best in the circle.

NUMBERS OF NOTE

202

Florida senior midfielder Shannon Kavanagh’s career point total. With three goals and an assist in the No. 6 Gators’ 14-7 win over Louisville on Saturday, the preseason All-American became the ninth player in program history to reach the 200-point mark. Kavanagh already owns Florida’s record for points (3.96) and assists (1.18) per game and is 66 draw controls away from the most in Gators history.

15

Draws won by senior attacker Sam Mlkvy in Cincinnati’s season-opening 20-19 win against Marquette. Mlkvy’s 15 draw controls were the most across all Division I in the campaign’s opening weekend. Her tally nearly matched the Golden Eagles’ team total (17) and set both program and conference single-game records.

58.8

North Carolina senior goalie Taylor Moreno’s save percentage in the No. 1 Tar Heels’ win over then-No. 5 Stony Brook, just the fifth time in her Carolina career that she’s faced more than 25 shots and still finished with a save percentage higher than 50 percent. The Seawolves brought a strong offense to Chapel Hill, but Moreno held them scoreless for the game’s crucial 20 closing minutes, earning ACC Defensive Player of the Week honors as a result.