(Photo: Jacob Franklin/WCSN)
No. 8 Arizona State fell short of its season’s first win when it travelled to Atlanta, Georgia, to take on undefeated No. 5 Georgia Tech.
During the Sun Devil loss, Georgia Tech’s senior attackman Ryan Connelly scored a hat trick. ASU freshman stand-out midfielder Brandon Rogers scored two goals in the game and junior midfielder Tommy Carrasco also scored two goals for the Sun Devils.
Connolly scored off the faceoff in the first 11 seconds of the game to put Georgia Tech up 1-0.
After Georgia Tech scored their first goal, ASU had a lengthy two-minute possession. Junior midfielder Ryan Bradway found space in the slot and put the ball in the back of the net. The Sun Devils had a quick turnaround, bringing the game to a 1-1 tie.
Less than four minutes later, ASU was penalized for too many men giving Georgia Tech a man up on the Sun Devils. Georgia Tech took advantage of the extra man and freshman midfielder Gabe Banks put the Yellow Jackets up 2-1.
Banks took an overhand shot that went bar down against ASU goaltender Johnny Perlite.
With 5:30 to play in the first quarter, Georgia Tech forced ASU to lose the ball in the zone. Georgia Tech senior defender Oliver Gregory punished ASU for their turnover to push the Yellow Jackets’ lead to 3-1.
ASU took another penalty for delay of game where Georgia Tech was unable to capitalize. After the penalty concluded, B. Rogers scored his first goal of the game as he came out of the box to cut the Georgia Tech lead to 3-2.
Perlite kept ASU in the game with a big save going into the second quarter.
Almost five minutes into the second quarter, junior defender Nathan Blair had a break away for the Sun Devils, but was stopped by Georgia Tech senior goaltender Mick Baker.
With less than seven minutes to go in the first half midfielder Tommy Carrasco tied the game for ASU.
B. Rogers scored his second goal of the game with 15 seconds left in the first half. Rogers’ goal helped ASU gain its first lead of the game making the score 4-3.
During the first half of the game Georgia Tech had nine turnovers and ASU had six turnovers.
ASU lost its 4-3 lead two minutes into the second half when Connelly scored his second goal of the game by taking advantage of ASU’s lack of stick handling.
The tie was short-lived, as Connelly buried the ball into the back of the net for his third goal of the day during the man up from ASU penalty. At that point, Georgia Tech led ASU 5-4.
Just over four minutes into the fourth quarter the Sun Devils tied the game up at five with a knee-high goal from Carrasco. It was his second goal of the day.
The Sun Devils called a defensive time out, but Georgia Tech senior midfielder Holland Frost had other plans for the Sun Devil defense. Frost scored his first goal of the season putting the Yellow Jackets up 6-5.
With one minute left in the game, ASU tied the game up at six. Sophomore attacker Jake Marthens scored his first goal of the night.
Georgia Tech answered back with 20 seconds to go with a goal from sophomore attacker Tim Peterson. ASU was unable to push the game into overtime. Georgia Tech pulled out a 7-6 win against the ASU Sun Devils.
ASU is now 0-2 with both losses coming from a one goal difference. The Sun Devils were constantly playing with a man down due to penalty after penalty. ASU had its fair share of turnovers and poor stick handling which hurt its chances to produce goals.
The Sun Devils continue to look for their first win of the season tomorrow, February 19, against the University of Georgia. The game begins at 12 p.m. EST in Athens, Georgia.
