No. 25 Women’s Lacrosse Falls 9-8 in Tight Season Opener at USC

Sunday, February 15

Los Angeles, Calif.

4 p.m.

Brown University

0-1, 0-0Ivy League

USC

2-1, 0-0Big Ten

Brown

USC

No. 25 Women’s Lacrosse Falls 9-8 in Tight Season Opener at USC

2/15/2026 7:37:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The No. 25 Brown women's lacrosse team (0-1) opened its 2026 season with a tight 9-8 loss at USC (2-1) on Sunday at Rawlinson Stadium.

Ruby Sliwkowski finished with a game-high four goals, all four of Sliwkowski's shots on target found the back of the net. The junior also had one assist to give her a game-high five points. Riley Peterson added two goals for the Bears while Mackenzie Conway made eight saves in her collegiate debut in goal.

Also in her collegiate debut, Annie Dignazio had a team-high three caused turnovers while Codi Johnson and Cece Korn each had three ground balls. As a team, the Bears had 10 caused turnovers while the Trojans had seven.

The Trojans opened the game with three-straight goals, the Bears responded with a 2-0 run of their own to cut the deficit to one. Sliwkowski scored both first quarter goals as the Trojans took a 3-2 lead into the second quarter.

After Sliwkowski's third goal tied the game, USC responded with two goals to take a 5-3 lead before Bae Bounds cut the lead in half with a goal. After Bounds found the back of the net, the Trojans responded with back-to-back goals to end the half, taking a 7-4 advantage into halftime. As a team, the Bears had three players with one caused turnover in the opening 30 minutes in Bounds, Peterson, and Dignazio. Conway made four first half saves in goal as Tessie Batchelder recorded her first collegiate point with an assist on Bounds' goal.

Brown opened the second half with three-straight goals to tie the contest at seven. First, Marley Wright scored before Peterson scored back-to-back goals. Peterson's second goal capped off the three-goal run to tie the game. The Trojans responded with a goal 16 seconds after the Bears tied it as they took an 8-7 lead into the fourth quarter.

Slikowski's fourth goal of the game tied the contest at eight with 9:04 remaining before the Trojans took a 9-8 lead with 5:04 to go. After the Trojans took the lead, the Bears had three shots, including two by Dignazio inside the final 60 seconds. Neither were unable to find the back of the net as the Trojans held on.

Brown will welcome Holy Cross for its home opener on Thursday, Feb. 19, the opening draw control is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at Stevenson-Pincince Field. Fans can purchase tickets here.

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