ASU Men’s Club Lacrosse: Sun Devils barely slip past No. 18 UNLV 12-11

(Photo: Jacob Franklin/WCSN)

No. 10 Arizona State went on its third straight road game, this one coming against the No. 18 UNLV Rebels in yet another ranked matchup for the Sun Devils.

UNLV jumped out of the gate early, going up two goals on ASU in the first eight minutes. However, ASU responded with back to back goals from junior midfielder Tommy Carrasco and senior attackman Rhett Rodgers.

UNLV answered with a goal of their own, which was matched shortly after by sophomore attackman Jake Marthens. These pair of goals made it a 3-3 game at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter was more of the same with the two squads going goal for goal. UNLV struck first with Rodgers responding and tying the game back up. Carrasco put one more in for the Sun Devils before halftime, giving them a 5-4 lead going into the half.

Arizona State came out firing in the second half. Junior midfielder Ryan Bradway and Marthens each scored a goal each in the first five minutes. This was followed up by a goal by sophomore midfielder Ben Parietti, which gave the Sun Devils a four goal lead.

The Rebels got one of their own on the board at the end of the third quarter, making it an 8-5 game in the Devils’ favor going into the final quarter.

The fourth quarter was a chaotic one. It started out with four straight goals for the Sun Devils, one from freshman midfielder Emerson Roth, one from Marthens and two from Rodgers.

When the game appeared over at 12-5, the Rebels started to rebel.

UNLV scored six goals in the final 11 minutes of the game, coming within one goal of ASU. However, the Sun Devils were able to hold off UNLV and squeeze out the nail biter by a score of 12-11.

This game was back and forth the entire way. Regardless of which team scored (and regardless of how many goals they scored), the other squad always seemed to match it.

ASU will finish out its road stretch with divisional games against No. 21 San Diego State and No. 3 Grand Canyon before returning home to end its regular season with a big match up against rival No. 17 Arizona.