With 17 seconds left in extra time, Kerrigan Miller finds Kelsey Huff for the game-winner, handing No. 12 USC an 11-10 double-overtime victory over Pac-12 rival Stanford. The Trojans move to 7-0 in conference play and extend its winning streak to nine.
Huff finished with a team-high five points on four goals and an assist, while goalie Riley Hertford anchored the USC defense with eight saves, three of which came in overtime.
The win marked the sixth time in the series that the game was decided by a single goal, including four of the past five meetings.
Stanford opened the scoring with a goal by Katherine Gjertsen and held a 4-2 edge midway through the first half, but it was a game of runs.
USC responded with three straight goals, including two from Huff. Then the Cardinal regained the lead with a three-goal run of its own spanning both periods before the Trojans tallied three more to go ahead 8-7 with 15:33 to play.
In the final 9:01 of regulation, Stanford and USC exchanged two goals each until Gjertsen found the back of the net with just one second left on the clock to knot it 10-10, forcing overtime.
After the first extra period saw no goal, USC pushed the tempo in the second overtime resulting in Huff’s game-winning score.
USC outshot Stanford 27-22 and won the ground ball battle 29-24, but the Cardinal controlled the midfield with six more draw controls.
Stanford saw three four-point performances from Gjertsen, Ali Baiocco and Mikaela Watson and nine draw controls from Julia Massaro.
Selena’s Six Goals Anchor Wildcats’ Win
Northwestern senior attacker Selena Lasota set the tone of the game just 19 seconds in. Scoring off an Izzy Scane assist, she kickstarted a dominant first half for the No. 8 Wildcats en route to a 17-13 win over No. 5 Penn.
Lasota finished with an impressive six goals on the day, five of which came in the first period before scoring her final tally to start the second half. Scane also shined for Northwestern with six points on four goals and two assists of her own.
Thirteen of the ‘Cats 17 goals came in the first half, featuring an opening four-goal run and a perfect seven-on-seven in shots.
After Lasota and Scane recorded back-to-back scores less than four minutes into the second half, Penn responded with a 6-1 spurt, featuring two goals apiece from Zoe Belodeau, Michaela McMahon and Gabby Rosenzweig.
Despite the 7-6 advantage for Penn in the second period, Northwestern’s Lauren Gilbert sealed the four-goal victory with one last score with 2:19 to play.
The Wildcats had a slight edge in both ground balls (20-17) and draw controls (17-15) with Kim Harker (5) and Brennnan Dwyer (7) commanding each category, respectively.
Rosenzweig led the Quakers with six points on two goals and four assists, while Belodeau anchored the attack with four scores.