The Trojans never trailed in the first half due to their formidable defensive and offensive efforts. Mireia Guiral scored the Trojans’ first two goals, including her 100th career goal, around a Stanford penalty kick from 5 yards out. USC’s Alejandra Aznar scored a 6-on-5 goal for the Trojans, extending their lead to 3-1. Bayley Weber then thwarted a Stanford power play with her second of several field blocks that day. After eight minutes of play, the score was 3–2 in favor of USC. However, the Cardinal capitalized on its next opportunity to pull one back, and the score was 3–2 in favor of Stanford.
5:35 into the second period, Weber connected with Paige Hauschild to give USC a 4-2 lead, and the Trojan defense would quickly thwart two more Stanford 6-on-5s, with Honnie Vandeweghe-O’Shea making a steal and then Stern making a stop to preserve the two-goal advantage. Following two consecutive stops by Stern, Stanford was able to score from the post, resulting in a 4-3 USC advantage at halftime.
