ASU Women’s Lacrosse: Sun Devils routed by No. 18 USC 17-6

Arizona State Women’s Lacrosse (1-5, 0-1) was defeated in its Pac-12 Conference opening game against No. 18 USC (6-2, 1-0) in a 17-6 blowout affair on Friday afternoon.

The Sun Devils struggled to find the net in the contest, only finishing with six goals, their second fewest amount this season. The squad had just 21 shots on the afternoon compared to the Trojans’ 36. ASU has now conceded 17 goals in consecutive games.

The Sun Devils failed to score in the last 25 minutes of play, with the last goal coming from graduate midfielder Kaylon Buckner on a free-position shot with 10:28 left. ASU could not keep up with USC in the second half courtesy of an 8-0 Trojan run. USC added four goals in the last 10 minutes of the match to put the icing on the cake.

Despite the rout, a positive for the Sun Devils was sophomore goalkeeper Katie Vahle, who tallied 12 saves. This exceeded her 11.75 season average, which ranks inside the top-10 in the country.

One USC attacker that was able to get the best of Vahle was senior Ella Heaney, who finished the game with four goals and bagged a hat trick in the opening quarter. She now has 13 goals through eight games this season.

The Trojans had an impressive eight assists led by junior defender Courtney Kuligowski, who had five assists of her own to set her side up for success.

With talent across the roster, USC proved to be too much for a Sun Devil squad still going through growing pains, as the Trojans picked them apart offensively while locking them down almost the entire second half.

The Sun Devils will look to get their season back on track with their first home matches since Feb. 18 against St. Bonaventure, as they will take on Oregon and Colorado next weekend.