Sun Devils stung by Gators, dropping Big 12 opener

(Photo: Courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics)

TEMPE – Down two goals before half in its conference opener, Arizona State sophomore attacker Addie Shevitz brought her team within one goal. Shevitz’s goal gave the Sun Devils the momentum to contain the No. 5 Gators and go into halftime at 7-6.

But Florida sophomore attacker Clark Hamilton had other plans.

Hamilton took the ball with 24.4 seconds left in the half, charged toward the left side of the field and scored over the right shoulder of ASU sophomore goalkeeper Regan Spichiger to squelch the Sun Devils’ momentum and return the Gators lead back to two goals.

The Sun Devils never recovered after Hamilton’s last-minute goal, as the Gators went on to beat the Sun Devils 14-8 Saturday at the Sun Devils Lacrosse Stadium.

The loss dropped the Sun Devils to 5-7 overall, 0-1 in conference play, while the Gators advance to 8-2, 1-0.

“Momentum can occur at any time,” head coach Taryn VanThof said. “Whether it’s the last second in a shot clock, whether it’s you’re down by six and put one in the back of the net, you’re up by six and putting a dagger in, momentum occurs in any second, and so I feel like there’s always opportunities to regain the momentum.”

The 2026 season has been difficult for the Sun Devils, in large part due to a top-30 strength of schedule nationally. The Sun Devils opened the season on the road before beginning a seven-game homestand, followed by three road games, two of which were against ranked opponents. The Sun Devils haven’t won a game on the road this season and the loss extended their losing streak to four straight.

“They have all the confidence in the world,” VanThof said. ”Now the execution piece, and I think you talk to any single one of our kids, they’re gonna tell you we can be better.”

Junior midfielder Anna Viglione leads the nation in draw controls. Viglione has 146, the most in ASU history for her career, and has the highest individual draw control per game nationally at 13.27. Viglione is the first Sun Devil to be mentioned on the Tewaaraton Award for the top female college lacrosse player in the nation. Florida senior Jenny Woodings challenged Viglione and won the majority of the draws in the neutral zone.

“You always want to win the draw and not have to play D. That’s the nature of lacrosse,” VanThof said. “We’re trying to find a rhythm rebounding off our defense … there was a couple of times where we could have capitalized on our own momentum to really push that forward.”

The Sun Devils frequently rotated defenders into the game to hold off the Gators’ robust attack. The defensive substitutions provided more support for Spichiger to have six saves in the first half on 19 shots.

The Gators responded by spreading the ball around and having seven different players score. Hamilton carried the brunt of this load, scoring five times on 10 shots.

ASU wasn’t able to have similar success; only Shevitz and senior attackers Teagan Ng and Lydia Oldknow scored for their team. Oldknow led the Sun Devils with four goals while Ng and Shevitz each had two. Both of Ng’s goals came from free position shots.

The game was originally scheduled to be played Saturday morning, but 10 minutes before the opening draw, the stadium was evacuated. Players, coaches and all in attendance fled for safety as a swarm of bees infested the area. The next two hours, first responders provided aid to those stung by bees while the game was delayed. At 1 p.m., Sun Devils Athletics announced that the game would be postponed to Sunday.

“It became pretty funny afterwards,” VanThof said. “It slowed down yesterday, what could have been a great start for us.”

The Sun Devils will continue to look for their first win on the road and in the Big 12 when they travel to Nippert Stadium to play Cincinnati on Saturday.