Temple falls to No. 17 USC

Temple Lacrosse (5-3, 0-0 American Athletic Conference) fell to No.17 Southern California (6-2, 0-0 Pac 12) 12-7 Friday afternoon in Los Angeles. All three of the Owls’ losses in 2024 have come against ranked opponents.

The Owls were hanging tight through three quarters, finding themselves down just three goals entering the fourth quarter. The Trojans scored 43 seconds into the final frame, giving them a 10-6 lead, and the four-goal deficit was too much for Temple to overcome.

KEY MOMENTS

• USC attacker Isabelle Vitale opened the scoring with a free-position goal three minutes into the game.
• Temple attacker Mackenzie Roth responded with her squad’s first goal of the game with five minutes left in the first quarter.
• USC closed the final three minutes of the first quarter with a pair of goals from midfielders Maddie Dora and Shelby Tilton, taking a 3-1 lead.
• The Owls answered back in the next frame, as Roth and midfielder Belle Mastropietro each netted goals in the first five minutes to tie the game at three.
• Tilton scored her second goal of the game with less than two minutes in the second quarter, and the Trojans went up 4-3 heading into halftime.
• The teams traded goals during the third quarter. USC scored five, including four from attacker Maggie Brown. Temple scored three as Mastropietro found the back of the net two more times, and the Owls entered the fourth quarter down 9-6.
• Midfielder Sloane Murphy gave USC its largest lead of the game by scoring less than a minute into the fourth quarter and going up 10-6.
• Mastropietro scored her fourth goal five minutes into the final quarter, but Tilton and Vitale added points on the board to put the nail in the coffin.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Temple was outshot 38-23 by USC. The Owls registered just 12 shots on goal, which was their second-lowest mark this season.
• Mastropietro’s four goals moved her up to 21 for the year, which is 27th-best in the nation.
• Vitale, Tilton and Brown all recorded hat tricks for the Trojans, led by Brown’s four goals.
• The Owls have failed to record double-digit goals in all three losses this season. They are undefeated when scoring 10-or-more goals in a game.
• Temple hasn’t beaten a ranked team in the past three seasons. The Owls’ last win came against No. 18 UMass in the 2021 NCAA Tournament.

ON TAP

The Owls will have more than a week off before returning to Howard’s Field to take on Vanderbilt (3-2, 0-0 SEC) on March 16 at noon.