(Photo Courtesy/Sun Devil Athletics)
Thursday evening was an emotional one at Sun Devil Soccer and Lacrosse Stadium, as third-seeded Arizona State defeated second-seeded USC for the first time this season 13-12, reaching the Pac-12 Championship for the first time in program history and inching closer to a bid in the NCAA Tournament.
“It’s a really exciting moment [tonight] for a lot of reasons,” ASU head coach Tim McCormack said. “We have 16 seniors and they have another two chances to be on our field together. That’s amazing. For the local state of the game, I hope this helps for sure. We’ve been playing some good lacrosse and I know they’re seeing it too and starting to gain some traction.”
“We’ve worked so hard for this moment every day this entire year,” graduate attacker Emily Munro said. “Every day of practice, we show up and compete.”
Munro and graduate attacker Carley Adams both earned hat tricks and one assist for the Sun Devils, while sophomore midfielder Madison Waters and sophomore attacker Claudia Shevitz controlled the offense for the Trojans with four and three goals, respectively. Most notably, Trojans’ graduate attacker and leading goal scorer Kelsey Huff, who was recently named Pac-12 Midfielder of the Year, was held to just one goal by the ASU defense.
It was a constant battle all night for both teams, with ASU having its largest lead at 8-4 a little over halfway through the second quarter. USC got on the board first with a goal from Waters just under two minutes into the game, which ASU graduate attacker Emily Glagolev would return on a free position shot a few minutes later.
By the end of the first quarter, the Sun Devils had already displayed their roster’s depth with Munro, senior attacker Katie Brodsky, Adams, and sophomore attacker Mina Scott all contributing to their 5-2 lead over the Trojans. Similar to Wednesday night against Cal, seven different athletes scored a goal for the Devils on Thursday.
“It just shows how anyone can show up on our team on any given day, and it’s awesome to see,” Munro said.
USC’s biggest offensive explosion Thursday night came at the end of the second quarter, scoring three goals in the last 71 seconds, including a buzzer-beater by sophomore attacker Maggie Brown with her team trailing by one at halftime.
The second half brought out the Devils’ biggest weakness in four of their six total yellow cards, a key point of emphasis for McCormack heading into Thursday’s contest. Meanwhile, the Trojans only committed two.
“It will continue to be [a point of emphasis] for the rest of time here,” McCormack said. “We certainly got loose with some of our checking. We are playing tough lacrosse but we can reign in some of those easy ones for sure.”
Although ASU was slightly more aggressive on defense, they were strong in clears, completing 16 of 19 attempts, ground balls with 23, and draw controls with 16. USC, on the other hand, successfully completed 13 of 18 clears, picked up 15 ground balls, and won 12 draws.
The atmosphere at Sun Devil Soccer and Lacrosse Stadium was electric all night, as the “Beat S.C.” and other chants could be heard from the sidelines and as fans excitedly cheered on the Sun Devils.
“We wouldn’t be able to win this game without the work of everybody on the team,” sophomore defender Bella Gasper said. “Everybody knows that everybody is just as important as the next man up, so it’s just really nice to have their support.”
“Our sideline [was] off the charts and has been since day one,” McCormack said. “They all help prepare on a daily basis behind the scenes. You cannot execute without it. When they get moments to cheer on the group and be involved, you see it – and we feel it without a doubt.”
“I can’t tell you enough about our parent support,” he added. “I feel like it’s the best I’ve seen across the board, and I’ve played at and coached a lot of different teams.”
That energy was felt most during the final five minutes, starting with a key save from Katie Vahle on a crucial penalty kill, allowing Bella Gaspar to get the ground ball and clear it down the field, setting up the go-ahead goal for graduate midfielder Taylor Pinzone.
“Every time she makes a save, it pumps me up so much,” Munro said. “She really makes some amazing saves and she can get it out to the midfielders who can clear it up the field and then we can take it from there on attack.”
Scott soon followed with the game-deciding insurance goal with just under three minutes to play, but the game would come down to the final buzzer as Shevitz sealed the hat trick with 31 seconds left on the game clock, but it wasn’t enough for the Trojans, who left too many players on the field for the final draw, handing ASU the final possession which it would not relinquish.
The Sun Devils will now play in their first Pac-12 Championship against first-seeded Stanford, who they defeated for the first time in program history earlier this season on Apr. 8, at Sun Devil Soccer and Lacrosse Stadium Saturday at 12 p.m. A win would award them an automatic berth to their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, but a loss would still give them an opportunity for an at-large entry.
“We’ve already beat them once this season, so it’s 1-1 right now,” sophomore defender Gigi Gaspar said. “It’s going to be a big game. They’re a super talented group. We’re just going to have to come with our A-game and it’s going to have to click just like we’ve been doing these last few games.”
“If we play 60+ [minutes] of Sun Devil Lacrosse, nobody is going to come in our way,” Bella Gaspar said. “We know we can do it, it’s just nice to finally get the opportunity to.”
