Pac-12 Coaches Weigh In on the Conference's Last Hurrah

Danielle Spencer didn’t know much about the USC-Stanford rivalry when she signed on to be the Cardinal’s seventh coach in program history in 2019. A New York native coming off a stint as Dartmouth’s head coach, Spencer hadn’t quite immersed herself in Pacific Coast history.

She quickly learned that the storied football rivalry also extended to women’s lacrosse, so she leaned into the Cardinal’s annual date with the Women of Troy.

“That’s why we made it our alumni weekend this spring,” Spencer said. “You know it’s going to be a great game. They’re so well-coached. They’re such a strong team. It becomes a rivalry because of how challenging the game is going to be and just those two California schools going at it.”

Strangely, “those two California schools” have never met in the Pac-12 title game, though they’ve finished Nos. 1 and 2 in the last four seasons, including this year.

If they do clash for the first time in the conference championship, it’ll be the last. The next five days mark the Pac-12’s swan song. After a flurry of movement starting with USC’s departure for the Big Ten in 2022 and culminating with Stanford and Cal’s decision to join the ACC late last summer, the Pac-12’s days are numbered.

But West Coast lacrosse? Coaches say that’s just getting started.

ENERGY WAS HIGH

“Just those two California schools going at it” was not a phrase a person would expect to hear about a pair of women’s lacrosse programs in the 1990s and early aughts when the game was “something those kids from Maryland and Long Island” played. (They sure have enjoyed their annual summer trips to Colorado for the Vail Shootout, though.)

But that began to change, in part because of a school that Spencer, rival USC coach Lindsey Munday and Colorado’s Ann Elliott Whidden call their alma mater: Northwestern. Each coach won multiple titles with the Wildcats and went on to serve as assistant under Kelly Amonte Hiller. The chance to coach outside the Eastern time zone inspired them to go west for head coaching jobs.

While Spencer took over Stanford’s staff after two seasons of Pac-12 lacrosse, Whidden and Munday were there when it formed — and energy was high.

“Coming from Northwestern and being a part of that program when Kelly was building it was something that drew me to Colorado,” Whidden said. “It wasn’t a steppingstone for me. Once they got into the Pac-12, it solidified the idea that this is a conference that will continue to grow the lacrosse landscape. It was an exciting time for the sport and Colorado to have a Power 5 conference where we can build and compete on a national level.”

Resources, such as exposure on Pac-12 Network platforms, and little details like gifts for student-athletes on programs that made the conference tournament allowed teams to show off to recruits in ways they couldn’t in former conferences.

Colorado took the regular-season championship in 2018, the first season, with Stanford winning the tournament crown. USC claimed both the regular-season and tournament titles the following year. But one of the biggest wins for Munday has been watching the game continue to grow in popularity on the West Coast.

“When I first started at USC, there weren’t as many girls playing or club teams coming to our games,” Munday said. “To see the transformation out on the West Coast and that some of the top players in the country are coming from the West Coast is great for our sport. It’s probably a reason why you see so much parity right now in Division I and across the divisions. There are great players everywhere, and to see that growth happen first-hand is special.”

Colorado is home to the top 2024 recruit in Eliza Osburn and top-15 prospects Charlotte Corkins and Charlotte Morton, according to Inside Lacrosse.

While Osburn and Corkin will wear Carolina blue as members of North Carolina when they play Stanford and Cal next year as members of the ACC, Morton is USC-bound. 

END OF AN ERA

For all the pomp and circumstance of Pac-12 lacrosse, its era was short lived. The dismantling has nothing to do with women’s lacrosse, of course. As is often the case, schools generally move for football-related reasons, and a domino effect ensued. It began in 2022 when USC and UCLA announced departures, which meant USC and Stanford were no longer guaranteed to play one another, let alone compete for Pac-12 regular-season or tournament titles.

“Obviously, the Pac-12 has so much history,” Munday said. “It’s the Conference of Champions. It’s sad to see that go. We’re incredibly grateful and excited to be part of the Big Ten, but the history and tradition is not lost on us.”

Then, there was more movement last summer — a lot of it. The seemingly indestructible Pac-12 — rivaled in stability only by the Ivy League — collapsed like a row of dominoes falling one after the other. Colorado and Arizona State approved a move to the Big 12, which at the time did not sponsor lacrosse but has since announced it will. Stanford and Cal joined the ACC. Oregon followed USC to the Big Ten.

And so went the only conference in the country to be comprised only of teams outside the Eastern time zone.

“That whole situation was wild,” Spencer said. “It’s funny, just thinking about all these West Coast teams now being a part of these conferences that have teams on the East Coast, but I don’t feel like I ever got too caught up in it. I trusted that by being affiliated with Stanford athletics and the level of support for athletics, it would all work out.”

NOW, THEY’LL HAVE TO GO WEST

The naysayer may call this all a blow to West Coast lacrosse. Whidden, Munday and Spencer are optimists.

“We sort of always had our back against the wall being in an area that’s a traditional area, and we have to travel all the time because teams hesitate to come out and play us,” Munday said.

Of course, more than 2,000 miles separate Maryland and Los Angeles, a much longer trek than the 364 between Stanford and USC. Munday’s thoughts? Advantage, West Coast.

“Anyone who’s coached or played on the West Coast knows we are travel warriors,” she said. “We travel all the time. Even if it’s one more trip, it’s not that big of a change for us. I think it will be more of a change for the Big Ten, ACC and Big 12 schools that don’t travel as much as we do. It’s no change for us. We do this all the time.”

Shorter trips to renew rivalries with former Pac-12 opponents are also likely in store. Colorado and Stanford are already on each other’s 2025 schedule. And the Cardinal and Women of Troy?

“That’s in the works,” Spencer said.

But first, there are games to be played and one more Pac-12 trophy up for grabs. All three coaches have their eyes on it and aren’t shying away from saying it would hit differently going out on top. Colorado has never won a tournament title despite advancing to the championship game three times, including in a loss to USC last year.

“For our team and our group of seniors that have been around, we’ve been close to winning Pac-12 championships in all their years here and haven’t gotten it done,” Whidden said. “Not only would it be exciting to win the last Pac-12 championship, but we also want to play in the NCAA tournament, and I think we’re very much on the bubble. We know we have to be successful this next week, beyond the first round, and probably make it to the championship if not win the championship.”

Though it’s never happened, USC and Stanford are, on paper, favored to end their run in the Pac-12 by squaring off.

“It’s something that hasn’t been on our minds all season, but now it’s right there in front of us,” Spencer said. “We already had motivation based on the way our season ended last year [in a 12-11 loss to Colorado in the semifinals], but we have even more knowing this is the last Pac-12 women’s lacrosse tournament. It’s exciting and bittersweet.”

But the hosts and reigning champs want it, too.

“We want to win a championship, plain and simple, that’s been our goal from day one,” Munday said. “Being the last year makes it special. Being able to host in the Coliseum, an iconic venue and iconic conference, does it justice.”

In four years, the Coliseum will once again be the backdrop for an iconic institution: the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, in which lacrosse will make its triumphant return to the Games in the Sixes discipline. Munday was recently named the head coach of the U.S. Women’s Sixes National Team and has been tasked with laying the groundwork for the Olympics.

Little girls on the West Coast will have a chance to see lacrosse realize a dream in person, with millions more watching on TV. West Coast lacrosse? It’s not going anywhere — it’s just spreading out.

“To have lacrosse be part of the Olympics in LA in 2028 is another exciting moment for West Coast lacrosse,” Munday said. “People want to watch it, come out West and continue to grow the game. It’s incredible to see the growth and talent on the West Coast, and I think the sky is the limit … I think this conference alignment is actually going to shift even more in terms of getting West Coast lacrosse exposure, talent and success.”