Sun Devils men’s club lacrosse rout Utah Tech 17-4 in season opener

(Photo by David Venezia/david_venezia_photography)

TEMPE – On Friday, Arizona State men’s club lacrosse aimed to begin the 2025 season on a high note. Just like 2024, the Sun Devils were set to welcome Utah Tech at home for the first game of the year. For some players on UT’s roster, the six-goal performance from ASU senior attacker Braden Rome was still in memory.

When Rome played against the Trailblazers last season, Trailblazer freshman goalie Blake Lucas wasn’t on the roster. Rome made sure to introduce himself out of the gate by scoring ASU’s first three goals of the season. The hat trick accounted for most of the 4-0 cushion at the end of the first quarter.

Within the first 21 minutes of the game, the Sun Devils surged to a 6-0 lead. It wasn’t until two minutes left in the second quarter that UT got on the board. With just six seconds left in the half, senior short stick defensive midfielder Lincoln Coleman scored to nullify the Trailblazers’ lone goal of the first half.

Coleman’s goal put the finishing touch on a 7-1 first half for the Sun Devils. Additionally, it earned him the honors of the yellow hat presented by junior long stick midfielder Matt Peters. A tradition started by Peters last season, the yellow hat represents his player of the game. On Friday, that player was Coleman in ASU’s (1-0) 17-4 victory over Utah Tech (0-1).

“Adam Peters got it our last win last season against Virginia Tech so he’s the one who’s going to divvy it off,” head coach Justin Straker said. “That’s a player-driven award at the end of every win.”

For the second consecutive year, the Sun Devils opened the season with wins over the Trailblazers in blowout fashion. While both matchups were decided by 13 points, the final score between these two teams was 21-8 last season. Similarly to UT, ASU had a different starting goalie for this game.

Sophomore goalie Finn Thompson made his first career start on Friday. Even with two goals allowed in the third quarter, Thompson’s had an overall positive debut. Throughout the game, Trailblazer attackers were visibly frustrated with his saves.

“We put a lot on (Thompson’s) shoulders and I thought he held his own,” Straker said. “He was composed all night, very proud of him.”

Complementing the defense was the Sun Devils’ electric offense led by their seniors. After Rome’s hat trick in the first quarter, senior attack Kyle Decker scored the last goal of the quarter to make it 4-0. In the first 15 seconds of the second quarter, senior defender Justin Yoon extended the lead to five.

Even though Rome was quiet after the first three scores, his impact was still noticeable. As one of the team’s captains, Rome is viewed by his teammates and coaches as both a leader of the team and the offense. Even with half as many goals as he had against the Trailblazers a year ago, the performance earned him postgame praise from Straker.

“I can’t say enough great things about Braden Rome,” Straker said. “He’s been our go-to guy on the offensive end for many years now.”

By the third quarter, it was almost certain who was going to win on Friday. However, uncertainty came when junior faceoff specialist Blake Driscoll went down in the third quarter with a knee injury. The injury was in the same knee as his ACL tear from last season.

The injury came when he won a faceoff by going to his right. He was then hit in the knee and the game had a momentary pause as he laid down in the grass. Coaches gathered around him and assisted him as he walked off the field gingerly.

“Hopefully it’s just a light hyperextension but otherwise everything seems to be okay,” Driscoll said. “It seems like it’s just going to be a short-term thing.”

A minute after the injury, junior defender Hudson Murakami scored to put the Sun Devils at the 10-point threshold. From there, ASU cruised to a win and began the postgame celebrations.

At the end of the game, Straker gathered his players toward a corner of the field to collectively celebrate the victory. While his postgame speech is unknown, Coleman getting the yellow hat is what stood out.

“(Coleman’s) a very gritty, blue-collar type of player,” Straker said. “We trust him in transition and it was nice to see him get one (goal) tonight.”