ASU Women’s Lacrosse: Previewing matchups against Detroit-Mercy and No. 3 Northwestern

(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)

After a strong start to the Tim McCormack era, the Sun Devil women’s lacrosse team will be challenged with their toughest weekend in program history, playing Detroit-Mercy this Friday followed by No. 3 Northwestern on Sunday.

For the third time in the program’s three years of existence, the Sun Devils started off their season with a win. This 16-12 victory over the UC-Davis Aggies last weekend was heavily in part due to the team’s offensive firepower, which saw eight Sun Devils score, including a four-goal performance from Kerri Clayton.

“We saw some toughness. We saw uptempo play. The IQ came out on the offensive end which was awesome,” McCormack said about the win. “We saw togetherness, the team really buckled down and played as a group.”

As ASU looks to its first game in its midwest swing, Detroit-Mercy is coming off a 30-3 loss against Northwestern. The team went 8-10 last year with a notable win in the regular season over Furman. The Titans are set to host the first meeting between these two programs Friday at 11 a.m. MST.

“The first thing we’ve got to do is take care of business at Detroit,” McCormack said. “That’s the main thing we’re focusing on right now and how we’re going to handle that team and the challenges they bring.”

Those challenges will mainly be on guarding the Titans’ midfielders and offense. Sophomore Taryn McManus scored on both of her shots against Northwestern, while the other midfielders combined for 12 draw controls. The team’s scoring leader is junior attacker Kamryn Corraro who put 33 shots in the back of the net last season and scored the third goal of their game against the Wildcats.

Following ASU’s game on Friday, the team will take a bus ride across the state of Michigan to prepare for their Sunday matchup against the third-ranked Northwestern Wildcats. This will be a homecoming for McCormack, who spent six years as an assistant coach in Evanston.

“It’s exciting. I’m pretty pumped to head back and play a game out there, compete and leave everything on the field,” McCormack said.

The Wildcats will present a challenge unlike any the team has seen in its three years of existence. Northwestern comes into this game 2-0 on the season after a 30-3 rout of Detroit-Mercy and a 24-20 win at No. 20 Duke. Northwestern went 16-5 last year, winning the Big Ten Conference and making an appearance in the NCAA Final Four.

The Wildcats are known for their quick offense and ball control under head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller. Sixteen different players scored in their season opener, with four goals coming from the stick of sophomore midfielder Izzy Scane. In their matchup against the Blue Devils, Northwestern came out of the gate with an onslaught of goals that saw them go up 8-0 in the first 12 minutes, a lead that they never looked back from.

This will be the first meeting between these two programs. The ‘Cats will be the highest-ranked opponent the Sun Devils have ever faced.

“Just keep the energy up that we’ve been preparing the same way all season,” junior attacker Emily Glagolev said about Sunday’s showdown. “Keeping that going and just playing our game and focusing on what we do will lead to us being successful.”

The first draw will take place at 11 a.m. MST and can be streamed on Big Ten Network Plus. Live updates can also be found on the Sun Devil Women’s Lacrosse Twitter, @SunDevilWLax.