Courtesy: USC Athletics
#1 USC (24-1, 3-0) vs. #11 Arizona St. (17-7, 1-4)
Saturday, April 12 | 1 p.m. | Uytengsu Aquatics Center
Series Record (since 2003): USC leads 42-2 (W21)
Last Meeting: USC 11, ASU 6 (April 26, 2024)
STREAM | STATS
#1 USC vs. #13 San José St. (13-10, 2-3)
Sunday, April 13 | 1 p.m. | Uytengsu Aquatics Center
Series Record (since 1998): USC leads 44-0
Last Meeting: USC 14, SJSU 8 (April 7, 2024)
STREAM | STATS
THIS WEEK
No. 1 USC has two more MPSF matchups on the agenda for its final weekend of home action at Uytengsu Aquatics Center. On Saturday (April 12), the Trojans (24-1, 3-0 MPSF) will host Arizona State at 1 p.m. And for USC’s Senior Day, the Trojans face San José State at 1 p.m. on April 13. USC will be celebrating the careers of four graduating Trojans that day — Laine Hourigan, Tilly Kearns, Emma Lawson, Sally McCarthy and Isabel Zimmerman.
RANKINGS
USC opened up 2025 ranked No. 3 in the national rankings. On Feb. 5, the Trojans moved up to rank No. 1 in the nation, and stood tied in that spot for the next two weeks before moving to No. 2 in the nation on Feb. 26. The Trojans took back that top spot in earning a tie at No. 1 last week, and USC remains at No. 1 in the latest set of national rankings (released April 9).
LAST ACTION
USC avenged its only loss of the season to No. 1 Stanford in a chippy 12-11 win at Uytengsu Aquatics Center on March 29. The Trojans shrugged off a three-goal deficit and punched up eight goals in the fourth period to net the hard-fought victory with help from a six-goal outing from Tilly Kearns. The Trojan offense would be slow to warm up in the first, with Stanford quickly gaining a 3-0 lead. USC’s first scratch of the game would come from Kearns on a 6-on-5 with 20 seconds left in the quarter. Kearns opened up scoring in the second to bring the deficit to 2-3, but Stanford converted on two man-up opportunities to go up by three. With one minute left in the second, a Morgan Netherton steal would be the spark for two back-to-back Trojan scores from Emily Ausmus and Meghan McAninch, and it was once again a one-goal deficit heading into the second half. That deficit quickly grew back to three, as the Cardinal kept USC scoreless in the third frame. But the fourth was all USC, with eight total goals in the quarter. Ava Stryker, with two early steals, was the catalyst that facilitated two back-to-back USC goals on the fast break, including Netherton’s first and Kearns’s third of the game. Ausmus would find Kearns again, who found the back of the net, to knot the game up at 7-7. From there, each team would go up by one just to see the score tied once again. Stanford responded to Kearns with a 6-on-5 conversion, but Alma Yaacobi was there on the next drive to add her name to the scoresheet. Ausmus collected her second goal of the game to lift USC to its first lead of the afternoon, only to have Stanford capitalize on another Trojan exclusion. In the last two minutes, it was a race to score on every remaining drive. Kearns scored twice in that time frame to bring USC up 11-10—the second of those on a critical exclusion earned by Yaacobi. The Cardinal tied everything up once more with 48 seconds remaining, but it was Netherton who found Yaacobi for an outside slam that sealed the offensive effort. The last possession belonged to Stanford, but a huge Ausmus field block left the Cardinal unable to catch up and the score 12-11 at the final buzzer.
NOTABLE:
– FR Emily Ausmus has now scored 86 goals this season, ranking third all-time in single-season goals by a Trojan.
– Ausmus has now scored in all 25 games this season, and has recorded multiple-goal games in 24 of USC’s 25 games this season.
– With six goals, SR Tilly Kearns has now scored 82 goals this season — fifth most single-season goals by a Trojan.
– Six goals is the most Kearns has ever scored against Stanford.
– For her efforts in the win over Stanford, Kearns was named the MPSF Player of the Week on April 1.
BY THE NUMBERS
Now 25 games deep into 2025, USC’s balanced scoring charge is led by Emily Ausmus and Tilly Kearns with 86 and 82 goals, respectively. Next in line is Ava Stryker, with 58 to help lead a pack of six Trojans with 30 or more goals to date. In all, 17 Trojans have scored at least one goal in 2025, including six with their first goals as Trojans. Defensively, all four USC goalies have factored into USC’s 24-1 record — all of whom have set career highs already this year. Junior Jada Ward has started 22 games for the Trojans, and she hauled in a career-high 13 saves in USC’s win over Hawai’i earlier this season along with back-to-back 11-save outings at the BKI. Overall, the goalie group averages 7.5 saves per game to anchor a Trojan defense giving up 8.9 goals per game. USC has outscored opponents 453-222 so far, while holding teams scoreless in 10 different periods to date. Offensively, USC is averaging 18.1 goals per game.
CLIMB ON
Both Emily Ausmus and Tilly Kearns have broken the 80-goal barrier this season — now two of just six Trojans to have done so in a single season and the first USC duo to each score 80 or more in teh same season since Sofia Konoukh (104) and Aniko Pelle (81) in 2001.. Ausmus’ continues to expand on her new USC record for goals scored by a Trojan true freshman, now with 86 goals — the third-most single-season goals scored by any Trojan. Kearns’ 82 goals so far have propelled the senior up the USC career ladder, currently ranking No. 4 all-time in scoring at USC with 244 goals. Junior goalie Jada Ward also has joined elite company, ranked No. 10 all-time in career saves at USC with 183 total stops to date.
ON REPEAT
In back-to-back weeks, USC claimed both MPSF awards, notching another sweep with Tilly Kearns’ first MPSF Player of the Week award of the season and Emily Ausmus’ second MPSF Newcomer of the Week selection on Feb. 10. The two Trojan Olympians were instrumental in top-ranked USC’s 19-15 win over No. 6 UC Irvine, while also helping lift USC to a 24-7 win over Biola in the Trojans’ home opener. Kearns scored five goals against the Anteaters after tallying two against the Eagles. Also against UCI, Kearns drew an exclusion and had a steal. In the win over Biola, she had three steals and an assist along with a drawn exclusion. Ausmus also scored five goals in USC’s win over UC Irvine after hitting a career-high six goals vs. the Eagles. She also served up three assists and had three steals and a field block in the win over the Anteaters while going 5-of-6 shooting. Against Biola, she added two assists and two steals to her six goals on eight shots.
SWEEPS WEEK
USC landed a pair of Trojans on the MPSF’s weekly honor roll for the first time this season following USC’s run to the 2025 Triton Invitational championship. For their key roles in a powerful 4-0 run at the event that was topped with a title-winning victory over rival UCLA, Rachel Gazzaniga was named MPSF Player of the Week and Emily Ausmus the MPSF Newcomer of the Week. Gazzaniga scored a career-high four goals — including a run of three straight goals during the second half — to help USC beat No. 1 UCLA 14-11 in the championship game at the Triton Invitational. She finished with nine goals at the event, having scored in all four games for the Trojans as USC also beat CMS 30-8 and No. 21 UC Davis 17-9 in group play and No. 5 Hawai’i 17-9 in the semifinals. Gazzaniga scored twice and had an assist, steal and block vs. CMS. Against UC Davis, she also scored twice and added an assist and steal along with two drawn exclusions. In the win over the Rainbow Wahine she had a goal, assist and steal. Gazzaniga also had three drawn exclusions vs. the Bruins, helping USC stay undefeated on the season at 8-0 after winning the Trojans’ second Triton Invite title in the last three years. A freshman, Ausmus scored 12 goals to help USC win the Triton Invitational championship. She scored twice and had three assists in the title game against UCLA. She opened the event with five goals in a 30-8 USC win over CMS, then had a hat trick in a 17-9 win over UC Davis to wrap group play. In the semifinal vs. Hawai’i, Ausmus scored twice and had four assists and a steal to help USC to a 17-9 win over the Rainbow Wahine. Ausmus has scored multiple goals in all eight games for USC this season. Gazzaniga and Ausmus are the first Trojans to earn weekly honors from the conference this season, and this is the first set of such honors for both.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
Almost half of USC’s scoring was generated by just five Trojan freshmen and sophomores last year, led by All-Americans Rachel Gazzaniga and Ava Stryker with 49 goals apiece. That dynamic duo gained extra experience as teammates with Team USA in a gold-medal run at the recent Pan American Games alongside incoming freshman and 2024 Olympian Emily Ausmus. Along with Ausmus, who deferred her enrollment in 2023-24 to compete with Team USA in Paris, USC welcomes a total of five newcomers to the pool for this 2025 campaign. Also boasting international experience are true freshman Alma Yaacobi (Israel) and junior transfer Sinia Plotz (Germany). Southern California products Ava Knepper and Sofia Umeda are also tabbed as quick impact players for the Trojans in their first season ahead.
VETERAN VIPS
Two-time Olympian and 2024 silver medalist Tilly Kearns plunges back into action at USC, where she is one of a five-woman senior class setting up for their final season as Trojans. Laine Hourigan, Emma Lawson, Sally McCarthy and Isabel Zimmerman all bring veteran experience to the 2025 Trojan talent pool. Lawson and junior Maggie Johnson are USC’s team captains this season, joined by Kearns, Zimmerman, junior Morgan Netherton and sophomore Gazzaniga on head coach Casey Moon‘s Leadership Council, which serves as a guiding force for the Trojans.
STAYING CENTERED
USC’s center play is anchored by Tilly Kearns and Alma Yaacobi on the offensive end, and is balanced by the defensive savvy of Emily Ausmus and Rachel Gazzaniga as guards. Gazzaniga and Madison Haaland-Ford also add offensive options at the two-meter slot for the Trojans.
ATTACK MODE
USC’s perimeter attack features a number of Trojan sharpshooters. Along with the more veteran talent of Morgan Netherton and Isabel Zimmerman, sophomores Rachel Gazzaniga, Ava Stryker and Meghan McAninch have proven their worth on the perimeter, with further reinforcements coming in from newcomers Sinia Plotz, Ausmus and Kearns. Additional depth from the bench comes from Hannah Carver and Jelena Sarac, who scored their first goals as Trojans last season, along with another redshirt sophomore in Caitlin Cohen.
CAGE FIGHTERS
On the defensive end of the pool, USC also boasts a connected unit of goalies. Laine Hourigan and Jada Ward both have logged time in the cage the last two seasons. They’re joined by two other Trojan goalies in redshirt freshmen Anna Reed and Lauren Schneider as USC’s goalkeeping corps for 2025.
LAST SEASON
In 2024, USC went 18-9 overall in a season that saw the Trojans make a 20th consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament in Casey Moon‘s first season as full-time head coach for the Trojans. USC tied for second in MPSF regular-season play at 4-2 and finished fourth at the MPSF Tournament. At the NCAA tourney, the Trojans fell in the quarterfinals to Stanford. USC’s 2024 team was led in scoring by freshmen Rachel Gazzaniga and Ava Stryker with 49 goals apiece. Both earned All-America honors along with seniors Alejandra Aznar and Julia Janov.
THE PLACE TO BE.
The University of Southern California is the undeniable, unequaled and unquestioned top destination for student-athletes. USC is both home to 136 national team championships and one of the top-ranked private research institutions in the world. Located in the heart of the thriving Los Angeles metropolitan area, it is situated in one of the most diverse and visible media markets in the world. USC’s campus is driving distance from the beautiful beaches of Southern California, the majestic mountains range of the Sierra Nevada, the sprawling splendor of the Redwood and Sequoia national forests, and the mysterious Mojave Desert. •
