(Photo: Karli Mathias/WCSN)
TEMPE – In their third game in conference play, the Arizona State’s women’s lacrosse team struggled offensively against the No. 14 Colorado Buffaloes, dropping the bout 18-2.
Colorado (6-3, 3-1 Pac-12) dominated with offensive possession on the field, winning 12 of 22 draws and taking 35 total shots on the goal, compared to the Sun Devils 11 shots.
For the third straight contest, the Sun Devil defense had to show their heart and stamina on the field, never taking a play off during the 60 minutes.
“I felt like our team didn’t fall apart on the defensive end,” goalkeeper Berkeley Bonneau said. “We came together after every single goal. At one point it (the score) was 17, and we came in and we’re like ‘We’re not done, there’s still time on the clock, we’re still gonna fight for this.’”
Bonneau had a historic day, setting a school record with 17 saves against an aggressive Colorado offense.
The offense still continued to struggle against Pac-12 opponents though. The Sun Devils have only 11 goals in their first three conference matchups, a steep decrease from the 98 goals they scored against their six non-conference opponents.
“We play in the No. 2 conference in the nation…that speaks loud and clear that the quality level of conference teams that we play against,” coach Courtney Martinez Connor said.
The Sun Devils find themselves embarking on a new challenge to break their three-game losing skid. The key to their success will be mental toughness, not physical.
“Our sense of fear is kind of starting to chip away. It should have chipped away sooner, but now were three games in we realize what it feels like to lose three games in a row. That’s terrible,” Bonneau said.
Sophomore midfielder Avery Hamill started for the first time Sunday, assisting on freshman attacker Kate Dougherty’s score with 6:28 left in the game.
“Sitting on the bench makes you really want to work hard and help the team in other ways other than just cheering on the bench,” Hamill said. “I just try to go had when I’m out there because I know what it’s like to not be out there.”
Even with Hamill making her first start, she and Bonneau had the same solution to improve the season.
“Confidence,” they both said in unison.
“When we practice it is a different team. No one is afraid to make a mistake…having that confidence to be like ‘I’m not afraid to make a mistake, I’m going to bust my butt to the goal and try to score,’” Bonneau said.
The Pac-12 has proven to be difficult for the Sun Devils during their inaugural season but coach Martinez Connor stressed the importance of her young players learning, both in wins or loses.
“It’s just a matter of the girls being confident on the field. It’s hard when they’re young and to play so many ranked opponents,” Martinez Connor said.
The tough matchups keep coming for the Sun Devils, as their next game against the Liberty Flames is last non-conference matchup (Tuesday at 5 p.m). Following Tuesday’s game, Arizona State has back to back away games against conference opponents Stanford (Friday, March 23, 7 p.m. MST) and California (Sunday, March 25, 12 p.m. MST).
