Sun Devils outmatched by No. 17 USC in Tempe

(Photo: Sun Devil Athletics)

TEMPE — To be the best you have to beat the best, that famous line holds weight for Arizona State women’s lacrosse after facing No. 17 Southern California on Saturday, the first-place school in the pac-12 standings.

Going into Saturday’s matchup, Sun Devil head coach Taryn VanThof knew her squad was going to be tested, but after a strong performance in their first Pac-12 contest against San Diego State, confidence was high for the Maroon and Gold.

“We really performed well in the second half against San Diego State to come back,” VanThof said. “Being really secure in being able to make things happen, was a real confidence booster.”

Throughout the season, ASU falling short against ranked opponents has become common. Three of its four losses have come to top-25 opponents, and against USC, it became more of the same.

“You see us lose in a one-goal game to No. 6 Michigan,” VanThof said. “They know they have the ability it’s just are we going to bring it on game day.”

The Trojans (8-3, 2-0 Pac-12) ran away with the contest early on, going up 3-0 in the opening quarter and not looking back. Graduate attacker Ella Heany led the way scoring four goals and tallying two assists en route to her team’s 16-7 victory over ASU (5-5, 1-1 Pac-12) Saturday afternoon.

“They have seven threats on the field at any given moment,” VanThof said. “When you’re playing 45-50 minutes of defense you’re going to give up some opportunities. Offensively pressure came at us and we didn’t want to attack that pressure.”

The first half of action was all USC, scoring by committee as five players tailed eight goals to build a healthy 8-2 advantage going into the break.

“We have to start playing in the moment and not just looking at a six-goal deficient you chip away one at a time,” VanThof said

The Sun Devils came out of the break looking lively as sophomore attacker Jordan Behar found the back of the net just 90 seconds into the half. Despite the early momentum, the second half was more of the same as the Trojans led in shots with 30 to 19, and turnovers taking care of the ball significantly better committing just 12 turnovers to the Sun Devils 17.

ASU stayed within arms reach for a majority of the contest, despite going down seven goals in the third quarter. The level of intensity was never faulted and when sophomore attacker Lydia Oldknow scored her team-high 24th goal of the season, it sparked some life into her team.

The Trojans have started their season competing at a high level, despite losing to Dartmouth just before taking on the Sun Devils, they have had strong wins against sides like No. 15 Army and UC Davis. Now back in the win column, USC need to continue to perform at this level with nothing but Pac-12 play on its horizon, with its next test coming at home against California.

As for ASU, its next run of games consists of out-of-conference opponents as well as Pac-12 action, with the upcoming matchup coming on the road against Stanford on March 30. For VanThof, the plan is now to regroup and prepare for her team’s next battle, as she found positives from Saturday’s performance despite the loss.

“We saw some of the gaps and holes we need to fix,” VanThof said. “We’re going to go hard this week we’re going to grind, iron sharpens iron.”