(Photo: Jodi Vosika/ASU Lacrosse)
It was senior day in Glendale for the No. 12 Arizona State Lacrosse team, as they took on No. 20 University of Nevada Las Vegas.
Everyone expected the Sun Devil’s seniors to come up big and Adam Beauchamp began the game doing just that, scoring back-to-back goals within the first seven minutes, putting ASU up 2-1.
The Sun Devils proved that taking their time on offense was the most effective way to score. ASU racked up four goals in the first quarter, a promising trend as they also went up early in their win against San Diego State.
In the second quarter, ASU looked to continue their scoring ways. Junior attackman Rhett Rodgers facilitated ASU’s dominant offensive performance. They ended the second half up 10-5.
In the first half ASU focused on unselfish play, resulting in freshman Jake Marthens collecting four goals. Rodgers was able to make extra passes to find the better shot, something the Sun Devils have been working on for weeks in practice.
Coming out of half time, it was all UNLV, as they cracked ASU’s defensive scheme scoring two quick goals.
“What I told them at halftime obviously didn’t matter,” said ASU head coach Todd MacRobbie. “But they figured it out.”
The players found a way to hold the Rebels scoreless from that point on.
ASU then quickly found their footing, coming out continuing to dominate on offense scoring back-to-back goals.
Chippy play characterized the third quarter for the Rebels, as they were not able to figure out how to guard ASU. This proved to be extremely frustrating for UNLV.
ASU kept their foot on the gas ending the third quarter 17-8.
Moving in to the fourth quarter, the Sun Devils didn’t let up on either end of the field but did noticeably slow things down on their offensive attack.
MacRobbie brought in his back ups while his team coasted through the rest of the fourth quarter, ending the game by a score of 20-8.
Arizona State was able to have nine players score, led by Marthens with five goals, and not far behind Marthens was sophomore attackman Patrick Haviland adding four goals.
Player of the game: Ironically, freshman Jake Marthens had his break out game on senior day. Marthens racked up five goals, in part due to how ASU’s offense focused on taking their time and taking the best shot rather than the first shot. Marthens is giving Sun Devils lacrosse fans a taste of what he will be doing on the field for the next three years he has remaining in his Sun Devil uniform.
Up Next: The Sun Devils have a full week ahead of them with three road games. They will travel to Colorado early in the week to play games against Colorado-Boulder and Colorado State that were canceled in March due to weather constraints. And then finish off the week against rival University of Arizona on Saturday.
