Pac-12 women’s lacrosse is no longer simply the eminent domain of Stanford and USC. This year especially, the conference is wide open.
A couple of overtime thrillers reinforced that fact Friday, as No. 17 Stanford had to rally from a six-goal deficit to defeat Arizona State 22-21 and USC gave up a two-goal lead in the final minute of regulation before putting away last-place Cal 12-11.
The Sun Devils, who throttled USC earlier this season and also own a win over Colorado, nearly picked up their first-ever win against the Cardinal. They led 16-10 early in the second half before Stanford rallied to take the lead twice in regulation and then force overtime, where a frenetic few minutes of turnovers, fouls and free positions culminated a game-winning, man-down goal on an 8-meter shot by Jacie Lemos.
Stanford improved to 7-0 (5-0 Pac-12) thanks to stellar offensive performances by Ali Baiocco (four goals, three assists) and Galen Lew (five goals, one assist). Ailish Kelly and Lemos added four goals apiece in the shootout, fueled also by 15 draw controls from Genesis Lucero.
Carley Adams scored a game-high six goals for Arizona State (7-4, 4-3). Kerry Clayton added five goals and two assists.
The Cardinal had multiple chances to put away the Sun Devils. An apparent go-ahead goal by Daniella McMahon with 43 seconds left in regulation was waived when she was called for a charge. A last-second attempt by Ailish from just inside the restraining line was turned aside by Arizona State goalie Berkeley Bonneau, who also denied Ailish on the doorstep off an inside feed by McMahon in overtime.
About an hour earlier, it was USC in survival mode. The Trojans trailed Cal 6-2 at halftime but stormed back to take an 11-9 lead.
With less than a minute remaining in regulation, however, the Bears netted two goals in an eight-second span to tie it at 11. Cal goalie Lily Rathbun denied Ella Heaney with two seconds left to preserve the tie and send the game to overtime.
A less dramatic overtime ended a little more than a minute in, as Kelsey Huff face-dodged her defender from just outside the first hash on the right side and exploded to toward the net to score point blank. Huff and Madison Waters each scored four goals to lead the Trojans (8-5, 5-2).
The Bears (2-12, 0-8) were led by Marisa Kuberra’s four goals and Nikki Zaccaro’s three assists.
NORTH CAROLINA THROTTLES VIRGINIA
Six days after Notre Dame made North Carolina look at least vulnerable, the Tar Heels regained their invincibility Friday.
Jamie Ortega and Katie Hoeg had eight points apiece, as No. 1 North Carolina defeated No. 7 Virginia 20-8 in a top-10 game that scarcely lived up to that billing — at least not if you’re a Cavaliers fan.
Ortega finished with six goals and two assists, Hoeg with four and four. Caitlyn Wurzburger (four goals, one assist) and Tayler Warehime (three goals, one assist) also got in on the offensive fireworks.
“We wanted to do a better job than we did offensively last weekend at Notre Dame with finishing the ball,” said coach Jenny Levy, referring to UNC’s 11-10 win over the Fighting Irish last Saturday. No other team has come within closer than six goals of the Tar Heels, who are now 13-0 and 7-0 in the ACC. “I thought our offensive unit did a really good job going in between the two different defenses they were throwing at us. Our spacing, our timing and our finishing were high-end, and we were patient on getting the shots we wanted to take rather than just taking shots.”
Virginia (8-5, 3-5) will get another crack at North Carolina on Sunday (1 p.m. ET on ACC Network Extra).
OHIO STATE SWEEPS MICHIGAN
Ohio State was nothing if not consistent in this Big Ten-only campaign.
The Buckeyes completed a season sweep of rival Michigan, ending the game on a four-goal run for a 12-9 victory.
Liza Hernandez (four goals) and Jamie Level (three goals) accounted for all four goals during the game-ending blitz. Ohio State finishes the regular season 4-8, sweeping Michigan and Penn State but getting swept by Johns Hopkins, Maryland, Northwestern and Rutgers. All seven teams qualify for the postseason tournament April 29-May 2 in State College, Pa.
NIKE/US LACROSSE TOP 20
No. 1 North Carolina 20, No. 7 Virginia 8
No. 3 Syracuse 19, Louisville 5
No. 10 Florida 17, Vanderbilt 7
No. 11 Loyola 20, Bucknell 3
No. 13 Richmond 19, Virginia Commonwealth 13
No. 16 Stanford 22, at Arizona State 21 (OT)
No. 20 Ohio State 12, No. 18 Michigan 9
Binghamton at No. 6 Stony Brook, PPD
OTHER SCORES
Cincinnati 16, Old Dominion 7
Coastal Carolina 11, Mercer 10
Davidson 20, George Washington 13
Denver 16, Marquette 6
Fairfield 14, Iona 6
Georgetown 19, Butler 6
Liberty 17, Kennesaw State 6
Monmouth 14, Manhattan 8
Niagara 10, Canisius 7
Saint Joseph’s 20, Saint Bonaventure 2
Stetson 18, Wofford 7
Temple 13, East Carolina 7
UConn 14, Villanova 7
UMass 17, La Salle 7
USC 12, Cal 11 (OT)
Jacksonville at Furman, PPD
Marist at Siena, PPD