The ASU lacrosse team dropped another Pac-12 contest, this time to the No.15 Colorado Buffaloes 18-2 at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium in Tempe on Sunday.
50 seconds into the game Colorado junior attacker Samantha Nemirov found the back of the net on a free position shot – she finished the game with two goals.
In the first half the Buffalos showed a variety of offensive fire power with six different goal scorers.
“This was another tough game against a ranked Pac-12 opponent who is super talented," head coach Courtney Martinez Connor said. "I think our girls battled the entire game it was certainly exhausting for our defense to play the majority of the game but incredibly proud of their efforts.”
Colorado dominated possession for a majority of the game much in part to winning 8 out of 11 draw controls in the first half.
Colorado junior midfielder Miranda Stinson had an outstanding performance on the field, pumping in four goals and two assists. Freshman midfielder Sadie Grozier and senior attacker Carly Cox both scored hat tricks.
The Sun Devils ended their scoring drought when freshman midfielder Emily Glagolev found junior captain attacker Kerri Clayton 48 seconds into the seconds half. Clayton now has scored 30 goals this season.
Colorado quickly answered back and continued to put shots on cage throughout the second half. The Buffalos put 35 shots on goal, while ASU only put 11 on cage. Colorado picked up ten more ground balls then the Sun Devils, which also contributed to the Buffalos gaining significantly more possession.
A bright spot for the Sun Devil included sophomore goalkeeper Berkeley Bonneau who recorded 17 saves between the pipes, a single game program record.
“I felt like our team didn’t fall apart on defense, we came together after every goal. At one point it was 17," Bonneau said. "They didn’t just get those goals, they worked for them because our defense was pushing them and I think that’s a positive thing on the defensive end.”
After scoring a hat trick Friday night against Oregon, sophomore midfielder Avery Hamill started her first game for the Sun Devils. She finished with one assist to freshman attacker Kate Dougherty who scored her third goal of the season.
“Sitting on the bench makes you really want to work hard and help the team in other ways besides cheering on the bench," Hamill said. "I just tried to go hard when I’m out there because I know what it’s like to not be out there and it felt good to help a teammate score today.”
ASU looks to add their sixth win of the season when they play Liberty on Tuesday, March 20 at 5 p.m. in Tempe. It will be the Sun Devils' last non-conference game of its inaugural season.
“We are gonna learn from this as always and continue to push forward," Martinez Connor said. "The games don’t get easier we just have to learn and learn quickly that we need to step up on the offensive end of the field, play with confidence and match what the defense is doing now to give them some breaks.”
Reach the reporter at nsheehy@asu.edu or follow @nsheehy_nick on Twitter.
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