USC had beaten Pac-12 foe Colorado twice during the regular season, each by three goals. The Women of Troy added those margins together for the difference in Saturday’s Pac-12 championship game.
Isabelle Vitale had three goals and three assists, Maggie Brown had three goals and one assist and Katie Ramsay and Catherine Lord combined to win 11 draws as USC downed Colorado 12-6 to capture the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Morgan Pence willed the Buffs’ offense, scoring five goals on six shots. Charlie Rudy scored Colorado’s lone other goal.
USC’s victory can be attributed to cleaner play. Colorado turned the ball over 18 times and was an unmanageable 14-for-23 on clears. USC, meanwhile, was a perfect 17-for-17.
Ramsay, Brown, Vitale and Christian Gagnon scored in a 4-0 first quarter for USC. Both teams traded goals until Pence scored on consecutive possessions in the third quarter, cutting the USC lead to 7-5. USC closed the contest scoring five of the final six goals — including every score of the fourth quarter.
USC last won the Pac-12 championship in 2019.
