The ASU lacrosse team suffered its third loss in five days on Tuesday night, falling to the Liberty Flames 15-5 at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium. This was the fourth consecutive loss for the Sun Devils.
Early in the first half, Liberty junior attacker Kayla Foster found sophomore midfielder Hannah Quast in front of the crease for her 12th assist of the season.
“We struggled just working our game plan, just running through the X’s and O’s that we had talked about today was definitely different it was the basics you have to catch and throw,” head coach Courtney Martinez Connor said. ”Our effort just wasn’t there.”
Later in the first half, redshirt senior attacker Michaela Rich scored her 11th goal of the season. The Flames' run would stop at two when ASU junior attacker Kerri Clayton scored a breakaway goal. Clayton would finish with two goals, bringing her season total up to 32.
The Devils struggled clearing the ball, going 16-33 in clears. This opened up transition offense for Liberty and fast breaks. Despite facing 42 shots, Sun Devil Goalkeeper Berkeley Bonneau made 14 saves.
“We couldn’t clear it out, it was just coming back and back," Bonneau said. "That for the defense was the most difficult. When we are tired, that's when we have to focus on the basics those ground balls, those passes, those catches, because that's what's tearing us down in a game and making us peel away.”
Flames midfielder Brianna McCaffrey had an outstanding day with the ball in her stick. The 5-foot-2-inch junior ripped four goals.
Sophomore attacker Jenna Joyal scored a hat trick and tacked on an assist. The duo caused a lot of problems around the net the whole game cutting and putting shots on goal.
Besides Clayton, the remaining goals from the Sun Devils were all from freshmen. Midfielder Emily Glagolev finished with one goal and one assist. Midfielder Maddy Hunter and attacker Katie Dougherty finished with one goal apiece.
Offensively, the Sun Devils had a hard time getting settled because of the Flames' swarming defense. The Sun Devils committed 37 turnovers and had numerous plays of sloppy stick skills.
“We have a lot we can learn from it moving forward,” ASU sophomore midfielder Madison Woodall said. “A lot of mistakes were made but a lot that we can see and we just have to make changes.”
On the offensive end, the Flames finished with nine assists and closed out the game on a 5-0 run
“It was a tough one tonight,” Martinez Connor said. “I think the fatigue in the girls was certainly showing, but (I'm) excited to refocus and get ready for our next set of Pac-12 games.”
UP NEXT FOR ASU
ASU (5-5) will go on the road and face the Stanford Cardinal (5-3) Friday, March 23. The game starts at 7 p.m. MST.
Reach the reporter at nsheehy@asu.edu or follow @nsheehy_nick on Twitter.
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