DeLuca’s strong start

(Photo: Jodi Vosika/ASU Lacrosse)

Senior goalie Christian DeLuca opened up his last season at Arizona State University with a promising performance on the road against Stanford and Utah, with only 7 total goals allowed and a 63.2 save percentage.

“I think I did really well. It was my first game in two years,” DeLuca said. “And keeping [opposing teams] under five goals is kind of our team goal.”

A lot of his confidence coming off the weekend and going into Friday is credited to ASU’s defensive unit, which only allowed a total of 19 shot attempts between both Stanford and Utah.

“Honestly, I’ve got to give it to my defense for only giving up a few shots,” DeLuca said. “They help me out by not letting passes come inside on the crease and letting me stop the outside shots.”

After last weekend’s high, DeLuca enters ASU’s home opener against the University of Minnesota-Duluth with a tough task. The No. 15 UMD Bulldogs are coming off a 24-1 season-opening win against Iowa State. But DeLuca said he is ready for the task ahead.

“I need to be focused and ready for whatever they’ve got,” DeLuca said. “Apparently, they’ve got some pretty good shooters so I got to be on my game.”

The short-term future for the Sun Devils looks promising with DeLuca in the crease. He’s confident yet humble to play the remainder of the season manning the cage. His next test, against the Bulldogs, will be live-streamed by WCSN, at Cronkite Sports’ live broadcast page.

“I’m going to try and not let it get to my head,” DeLuca said. “I’ve got to go into every game calm and focused and make sure I’m ready to play.”

You can reach Tamsyn Stonebarger on Twitter @TamsynPStone or via email at tamsynstonebarger@gmail.com

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