Sun Devil Lacrosse Falls to No. 19 Denver
DENVER, Colo. – Sun Devil Lacrosse suffered their first defeat of the 2021 season, falling on the road to No. 19 Denver at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium.
In only their second non-conference road matchup with a Top-25 foe, Arizona State maintained pace with the Pioneers for the first 20 minutes of the game. A strong Denver run to end the first half created separation, allowing the Pioneers to eventually pull away for the 22-10 victory.
The Sun Devils found themselves as close as eight goals late in the second half, but could not overcome the deficit in the Mile High city.
Carley Adams led the offense with a productive performance, finishing with five of her team's 10 goals. She now has 14 goals through her first three games, scoring five or more goals on two occasions.
Maura Cissel had a historic day in the circle, breaking her own single-game program record with 12 draw controls. Berkeley Bonneau was credited with eight saves, including several momentum-changing stops that led to transition opportunities.
An aggressive Sun Devil defense caused 12 turnovers for the second consecutive game, with Denver committing a total of 17 turnovers against the Maroon & Gold pressure.
TURNING POINT
A back-and-forth start to the game saw the Sun Devils going toe-to-toe with one of the top teams in the nation. The two sides exchanges goals for the first 15 minutes with Maddy Hunter's free-position tally with 14:41 cutting the Pioneers' lead to 6-5.
Denver would go on to score seven unanswered goals to end the half during a 9-0 run that overlapped into the second half. Despite multiple comeback efforts in the second half, the Sun Devils dropped a contest for the first time this season.
QUOTABLES
"Maura played well," Coach McCormack remarked. "She competed for us on the draw control and helped set our circle up for success as well."
"Our message will remain the same," Coach McCormack mentioned in reference to how the team moves on. "Play Sun Devil Lacrosse have fun and compete for 60+ minutes. We are fortunate for a quick turn around, to get back out there and learn and grow from this experience in practice this week."
NOTABLES
- Senior midfielder Maura Cissel was a big reason why Arizona State finished with a 18-15 advantage in draw controls. She set a new single-game program record, controlling 12 draws on the day. The record that Cissel broke was her own, as she previously earned 11 draw controls in the victory over Detroit on Feb. 14, 2020.
- Carley Adams scored five goals, registering her 11th career multi-goal game in style. After scoring 13 goals through the first 34 games of her career, Adams has now scored 32 goals in her last 11 games. She now has three 5+-goal efforts in her career.
- Kerri Clayton found the back of the net twice, giving her an incredible 27 multi-goal performances in 46 career games.
- Arizona State enjoyed success on free-position opportunities, going 7-for-10 on the day.
UP NEXT
Arizona State continues their four-game road trip with a stop in the Bay Area, taking on Stanford and California. First up, the Sun Devils take on Stanford on Friday, March 12th at 6 pm MST. The Cardinal will be the second consecutive ranked road opponent for the Maroon & Gold, with the game broadcasted via live stream here with live stats available at the following link.
On Sunday, March 14 ASU continues Pac-12 play with a matchup against California. The Sun Devils make their Pac-12 Network debut, as the 12 pm MST game will be broadcasted on Pac-12 Network Bay Area. Stay tuned for more information on the next road trip.
*All Stanford and California Athletics home events are closed to the public this year due to Pac-12 Conference COVID-19 policy.
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