USC head coach Marko Pintaric is in his third season, and this will be his second NCAA Tournament with the Women of Troy, following the cancellation of the 2020 competition due to the coronavirus epidemic. The 2022 Trojans went unbeaten during the MPSF regular season and finished as runners-up in last weekend’s MPSF Tournament. For the second consecutive season, Pintaric was awarded MPSF Coach of the Year, with six Trojans garnering All-MPSF honors.
Tilly Kearns and Paige Hauschild, both 2020 Olympians and captains this season, were chosen to the All-MPSF First Team. Kearns currently leads USC in scoring with 56 goals, while Hauschild has 43. Meanwhile, USC returns numerous important players of the team that won the NCAA Championship in 2021, including All-Americans Bayley Weber, Grace Tehaney, and Mireia Guiral. As USC prepares for NCAA play, the balanced Trojan team is averaging 15.3 goals and 7.1 goals against per game.
USC has won seven prior national titles and owns a 37-12 all-time NCAA tournament record. The Trojans were the top seeds last season and had lost only one game all season. USC would seek vengeance in the NCAA championship game. Following a 24-5 victory against Marist in the opener, USC defeated Arizona State 10-4 in the semifinals. This set up a rematch with host UCLA, which USC dominated 18-9, setting NCAA records for goals scored and margin of victory in a final and securing USC’s eighth national championship.
