(Photo: Jack Harris/WCSN)
Arizona State’s women’s lacrosse team was already facing plenty of obstacles this week:
A cross-country trip to New York. Two games in three days. Unfamiliar turf-field playing surfaces.
Early in their Monday afternoon game against at Columbia, the Sun Devils had created another roadblock for themselves, stumbling to a quick 7-1 deficit to the Lions.
None of it mattered.
ASU stormed back in the second half Monday, outscoring Columbia 8-2 in down the stretch to claim a 15-12 victory and clinch a weekend sweep following its 18-8 defeat of Manhattan on Saturday.
“Our team showed a lot of heart and determination overcoming a large deficit in the first half,” coach Courtney Martinez Connor said in a postgame release. “I’m impressed with our young team’s poise as this experience was brand new to them as this was just our fifth game ever. Starting on the road for the first three weeks of the season was certainly difficult but the girls showed that they are able to overcome different types of adversity.”
The Monday comeback was complete with 16:23 to play, when ASU (4-1) captain and leading scorer Kerri Clayton scored her fourth goal of the day to give the Sun Devils their first lead, 13-12.
After ASU’s defense allowed seven goals in the game’s first 15 minutes, the backend held Columbia to just five tallies the rest of the way. The Lions (1-3) were shutout over the final 22:52 of the game, allowing the Sun Devil attack to charge back from the early hole. Goalkeepers Berkeley Bonneau and Sophia Thomas split time in net to make eight total saves during the rally.
“We showed a lot of grit especially in the second half, holding their offense to just two goals,” Martinez Connor said. “We picked up the intensity and were forcing a lot of turnovers. We made several adjustments in controlling the tempo of the game on both sides of the ball and at the draw which was crucial to coming out on top.”
The come-from-behind win gave ASU its second weekend sweep of the season, after the Sun Devils’ back-to-back wins at Kennesaw State and Stetson two weeks ago in the first-year program’s inaugural games.
Clayton led ASU’s attack with eight goals during this week’s two-game trip to the Big Apple, giving her an NCAA-best 24 scores this season.
Freshman midfielder Maddy Hunter was ASU’s leading scorer in Saturday’s win over the Jaspers (1-2), scoring four times during the Sun Devils’ most productive offensive game of the season.
“The offense did a great job of managing their time with the ball and getting everyone involved,” Martinez Connor said. “They continue to prove they’re all a threat with or without the ball.”
Hunter also led ASU with 11 total ground balls during the weekend trip, which were the final two legs of the Sun Devils’ season-opening five game road trip.
They return to Tempe for their first-ever home game next weekend, when they face Presbyterian at the Sun Devil Soccer/Lacrosse Stadium on Saturday at 3 p.m.
“They are still learning and growing through every experience,” Martinez Connor said in the wake of her debuting program’s latest early-season win. “We’re excited to be back in Tempe this weekend.”
