Lacrosse Makes Return Trip to Oregon and Colorado
TEMPE, Ariz. – Sun Devil Lacrosse hits the road for a pair of Pac-12 rematches this weekend, as the second half of conference schedule begins.
Arizona State (7-2, 4-1) is in the midst of a seven-game conference stretch, one of the most important parts of the season. First up, they head to Eugene for a matchup with Oregon. The 6 pm MST contest will not be live streamed, but live stats will be provided here. On the back end of the road trip, the Sun Devils travel to Boulder for a 12 pm MST showdown with Colorado. The game will be broadcast on Pac-12 Network Rocky Mountain with more information at the following link. Live stats will be available here.
Coach McCormack's team is 2-2 on the road this season, having won their last two away from home. In his two seasons in Tempe, the Sun Devils are 4-4 on the road. During their current five-game win streak, ASU is outscoring opponents 94-51 during that span.
KNOW YOUR FOES
Oregon comes into the contest with a 1-7 record, defeating California back on March 20 for their lone conference win. After their loss to Arizona State on Friday, they were also defeated by USC on the road 16-9. The Ducks are led by Head Coach Chelsea Hoffmann, who is in her third season in Eugene.
Hanna Hilcoff paces the Ducks attack with 25 goals scored in eight games this season. Lillian Stump is second on the team with 21 points, recording 16 goals and five assists. Goalkeeper Alle Dunbar has started all eight games in net and played 467 of a possible 485 minutes, making 89 saves at a 44% clip.
On Sunday the Sun Devils have a rematch with perineal Pac-12 power in another huge conference showdown. The Buffaloes are 3-5 and 1-3 in conference play, with two of their losses coming in overtime. They have already defeated a Top-25 Denver team and and will face USC on Friday before welcoming the Sun Devils. Longtime leader in Boulder Ann Elliot Whidden has put together another excellent team in her eighth season as the Head Coach. She has compiled a 82-45 record during that time and have qualified for the NCAA Tournament for three straight years.
Charlie Rudy leads CU with 36 points, 34 of those coming from goals. Sadie Grozier is second on the team with 23 points (16, 7a). She is tied with Ashley Stokes for the team lead in assists. Julia Lisella has been a mainstay in goal for the Buffs in net, playing every possible minute. While allowing 84 goals, she has a 10.42 goals against average this season. Lisella has also made 90 saves this season for a 51.7 save percentage.
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
"The team put together another complete team effort," Coach McCormack observed after the win over Colorado. "That was a good example of Sun Devil Lacrosse in the second half, but we are excited to get back to work."
"Our offense and defense have both been outstanding lately," Coach McCormack added. "It is great to see us be so balanced and have success in both areas."
"Gigi and Bella have been tremendous," Coach McCormack stated in reference to the Gaspar twins, who have started every game on defense as freshman. "They have been able to come in and play like upperclassmen. They are great athletes that are able to cover people one-on-one and collect a lot of ground balls for us. They get great pressure on ball carriers and make it hard to execute against us."
"The coaches and the team put a big emphasis on playing fast and free and I believe our offense clicked so well today because we were able to do that and just have fun," midfielder Kaylon Buckner remarked after the win over Oregon. "Every player that steps on the field is a threat and we all have complete confidence and trust in each other which is key."
"Tremendous effort by Buck today," Coach McCormack when grading Kaylon Buckner's performance. "She was great on the draw circle as well as both ends of the ball scoring a few and getting an assist while buckling down defensively."
"Our team plays with a chip on our shoulder and defense consistently showed this by playing hard and making big stops," Kaylon Buckner said. "Also, I will give a lot of credit to our scout offense team who were able to prepare our defense this week coming into the game."
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Emily Glagolev was selected as the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week for the first time this season and third time in her career, the conference announced on Monday. Arizona State has now had 11 individuals receive the top weekly conference honor in Head Coach Tim McCormack's two seasons, after previously only winning the award three times in the two prior seasons. Of the possible 12 recipients of a Pac-12 Player of the Week award in 2021, eight have been Sun Devils.
Emily Glagolev had as unselfish a weekend of anyone in the country, putting together back-to-back six-assist performance. She finished with weekend with 14 points, 12 of which came on assists. The two six-assist efforts matched her own Arizona State single-game record and was the third time she accomplished the feat in her career. Glagolev now three or more assists in 15 career contests.
In the win over Oregon, she operated the offense to perfection, recording six assists while also adding two goals. Helping lead the Sun Devils to their first win over Colorado in program history, Glagolev mindset was on distribution, as she had six assists and prioritized getting her teammates involved. She was also effective in the midfield and on loose balls, finishing with six ground balls this weekend.
2021 PAC-12 LACROSSE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Defensive Player of the Week Offensive Player of the Week
Mar. 29 Genesis Lucero, Stanford Emily Glagolev, ASU
Mar. 23 Berkeley Bonneau, ASU Kerri Clayton, ASU
Mar. 15 Berkeley Bonneau, ASU Kerri Clayton, ASU
Mar. 8 Riley Hertford, USC Carley Adams, ASU
Mar. 2 Anna Collawn, Colorado Ali Baiocco, Stanford
Feb. 23 Berkeley Bonneau, ASU Carley Adams, ASU
LAST TIME OUT
Sun Devil Lacrosse earned extended their program-best winning streak to five games with a pair of wins over Oregon and Colorado last weekend.
Coming off arguably the biggest weekend in program history, Arizona State took care of business from the start in a win over Oregon on Friday. Head Coach Tim McCormack's team captured the lead early in the first half and never looked back, leading the 59 of the 60 minutes.
The Sun Devils picked up a win in their first Pac-12 Conference game at Sun Devil Soccer/Lacrosse Stadium in 2021. The offense was sharp from the start, building a lead and the defense took care of the rest. Arizona State allowed only two goals over the final 30 minutes and held the Ducks scoreless for a 27-minute stretch of the second half. ASU received contributions from throughout the roster, as eight different players scored a goal, 12 collected a ground ball, and eight caused a turnover.
The wins continued to pile up for Arizona State (7-2, 4-1), who is off to the school's first 4-1 start in Pac-12 play. Riding a program-best four game winning streak, the Sun Devils imposed their will from the start, as Kerri Clayton scored just 19 seconds into the game. Behind the strength of a 10-5 second half, Coach McCormack and the coaching staff made the necessary adjustments to allow the Maroon & Gold to pick up their first-ever victory over Colorado.
The Sun Devils earn another Pac-12 Conference home win at Sun Devil Soccer/Lacrosse Stadium and move to 5-0 at home in 2021, outscoring opponents by a total score of 98-47. Allowing just one Colorado goal during an epic 22-minute run stretching the first and second half, another lockdown defensive effort helped pave the way for victory.
HOW TO FOLLOW
Arizona State makes the return trip to matchup with the same pair of teams this weekend. First up, they head to Eugene for a matchup with Oregon. The 6 pm MST contest will not be live streamed, but live stats will be provided here.
On the back end of the road trip, the Sun Devils travel to Boulder for a 12 pm MST showdown with Colorado. The game will be broadcast on Pac-12 Network Rocky Mountain with more information at the following link. Live stats will be available here.
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