ASU Women’s Lacrosse: No. 12 USC hands Sun Devils heavy defeat in Pac-12 opener

(Photo: Jack Harris/WCSN)

TEMPE, AZ- The Arizona State women’s lacrosse team’s inaugural season has been filled with achievements and milestones leading up to Saturday’s first conference matchup in program history.

The Sun Devils fell to the No. 12 USC Trojans 14-3, dropping their record to 5-2, and the conference record to 0-1.

Arizona State gave up a season-high 14 goals on Saturday, matching the total it allowed to SDSU in its only other loss of the season.

Three goals scored was a season-low for ASU, which had tallied double-digit goals in each of its first six games this year.

The Sun Devils played defensively sound throughout the second half after being down 11-1 in the first. They were able to hold the Trojans to just three goals in the second half.

“Our defense played tough and were a bright spot through the whole game,”head coach Courtney Martinez Connor said in a release.

The Sun Devil defense did cause six turnovers for the Trojans. Freshman Maddy Hunter led the defense with six draw controls throughout the bout.

Offensively, Emily Glagolev, Carley Adams and Kerri Clayton scored for ASU. Though the Sun Devils generated 17 shot attempts, they couldn’t overcome their 19 giveaways against the Trojans.

Perhaps the most impressive performance of the afternoon was sophomore goalkeeper Berkeley Bonneau, as she recorded 10 saves to tie a career high she set during the season opener.

Opening the conference stretch against the twelfth best team in the nation proved a tall task and the Sun Devils will see two more conference opponents in this next three-game home stretch, starting with the Oregon Ducks (Friday, March 16, 6 p.m. PT). Arizona State then plays No. 19 Colorado Buffaloes (Sunday, March 18, 11 a.m. PT) and concludes with a final non-conference bout against the Liberty Flames (Tuesday, March 20^,5 pm. PT).

Even after getting blown out by the Trojans, the Sun Devils remain in a good spot for a team in its debut season.

“It was another first for our team and the conference overall today,”Martinez Connor said. “We certainly improved from the first to the second half, however we need to able to step on the field and compete with confidence from the very beginning as every conference game will be a battle.”