Lacrosse Knocks Off No. 23 Colorado in Impressive Fashion

TEMPE, Ariz. – Sun Devil Lacrosse cruised to a 20-6 victory over No. 23 Colorado at Sun Devil Soccer/Lacrosse Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
 
Arizona State (3-2, 2-0) took control of the game early and never looked back, overwhelming the ranked Buffaloes during an 8-0 second period. The 14-goal margin of defeat was the largest in the nine-year history of the Colorado program. 
 
"That was exciting to get a win against such a good team," Head Coach Tim McCormack remarked. "Colorado has been playing extremely well, so I am pleased with the way we were able to execute."
 
The Maroon & Gold received contributions from individuals throughout the roster, highlighted by the play of Emily Glagolev. The attacker took over the game with her ability to both pass and score, finishing with nine points (six goals and three assists). 
 
Glagolev was not alone in finding the back of the net with frequency, as fellow attacker Carley Adams was also extremely productive. Adams scored five goals of her own, one of nine total Sun Devils to score at least one goal. 

The defense was equally as effective, holding the Buffaloes to only six goals. It is the fewest goals Colorado has scored against an unranked opponent since their first year as a program in 2014 (7-6 loss at Cal). In all three home games, the Sun Devil defense has held their opponent to single digit goals.
 
Thanks to the victory, the Sun Devils start out Pac-12 play 2-0 for the first time. They claim their second win over a Top-25 team as a program, doing it in impressive fashion. 
 
TURNING POINT
Arizona State enjoyed a strong first period, jumping out to a 6-2 lead. However, the Buffaloes have proven to be tough to put away, never out of a game no matter the score. An 8-0 second period effort eliminated any questions, as the Sun Devils thrived off the energy of the home crowd. Carley Adams had three goals in the second period alone, with Emily Glagolev adding two. The defense prevented Colorado from scoring a single goal for the entire 15 minutes, completely shutting down a high-powered Buffaloes attack. With 7:34 still left in the first half, Arizona State established a 10-goal lead and triggered a running-clock situation. By the end of the quarter, the Sun Devils found themselves in front 14-2 at the half.
 
NOTABLES

• The 14 point margin of defeat (20-6) was the largest in the nine-year history of the Colorado lacrosse program.
• It is the fewest goals scored by the Buffaloes since Apr. 28, 2019 against #17 USC and the fewest against an unranked team since a 7-6 loss to California on Apr. 20, 2014
• The 20 goals scored by the Sun Devils are the most against the Buffaloes since a loss to #14 Michigan back on Feb. 23, 2020
• It is ASU's second victory over a ranked team in program history, both coming under Coach McCormack (previously defeated No. 20 USC on March 19, 2021)
• Arizona State starts 2-0 in conference for the first time in program history
• In two home games against Colorado under Coach McCormack, the Sun Devils are 2-0 outscoring the Buffaloes 36-17. In the two prior meetings between the two teams in Tempe, ASU had been outscored 31-9 in two losses
• The ASU defense has allowed only 21 goals through three home games, holding opponents to 7.0 goals/game
• Emily Glagolev finished set a new career-high by scoring six goals, while also dishing out three assists.
  • The nine points matched her career-high, as she registered her 19th performance with at least three assists in her career. It is her 14th career hat trick.
  • Glagolev now has 97 goals and 120 assists in her career and is on the verge of becoming the first Sun Devil to reach triple digits in both categories.
• Carley Adams came into the game with five goals and she managed to double that total today with an outstanding performance.
  • She has now scored five or more goals on seven different occasions, breaking Kerri Clayton's program record.
  • Adams has registered at least one goal in 21 consecutive games dating back to the end of the 2020 season (68 goals during that stretch)
• The Sun Devils were extremely efficient, scoring 20 goals on only 27 shots.
• ASU held a 17-13 advantage in draw controls thanks in large part to the efforts of Zoe Mazur, who earned nine of those on her own.
• Freshman Katie Vahle continues her excellent start in net, making six saves and collecting four ground balls while allowing only five goals.
• Katie Brodsky added two more assists to give her three-straight multi-assist efforts.
• Despite taking on heavy ball carrying duties, Bella Gaspar did not commit a turnover in 120 minutes of play this weekend. 

FIRST QUARTER
The Sun Devils came ready to play from the opening whistle, establishing their pace and tempo right from the start. Maddy Hunter got the scoring underway, finishing off a feed from Katie Brodsky. Not much long afterwards, Emily Glagolev put in the first of many goals on the day. Carley Adams added one of her own to put ASU up 3-0 a little over six minutes into the game.
 
Colorado scored for the first time at the 8:01 mark, but it was answered by a Kylie Kroeger goal. After Charlie Rudy scored with 4:23 remaining, the Buffaloes would go on an extended scoreless streak, lasting into the third quarter. Arizona State did not experience the same problems, finding the back of the net two more times courtesy of Emily Glagolev, giving ASU a 6-2 lead after one.
 
SECOND QUARTER
ASU picked right where they left off in the first quarter, continuing to dominate play. Carley Adams took over, scoring the next two goals to extend the lead even further. Then it was Glagolev again, scoring her fourth goal and then assisting on a Lia Willis finish. Carley Adams wanted even more, recording her third goal of the second quarter and fifth of the game.
 
At the 7:34 mark of the second quarter, Emily Glagolev got the important 12th goal of the game, pushing the lead to double digits and triggering the running clock. The clock would run the rest of the game, as ASU would not relinquish their 10+ goal lead. Maria Villanti and Taylor Pinzone made sure of that, each scoring a goal to put the Sun Devils on top 14-2 heading into the break.
 
THIRD QUARTER
With the game at a comfortable margin, players throughout the Arizona State roster saw playing time and gained valuable experience. This did not stop the Sun Devils from maintaining a double-digit lead, as Emily Glagolev and Emily Munro answered two initial Colorado goals with one goal apiece. Carley Adams made sure ASU won the quarter (3-2), scoring with under two minutes left to make it 17-4 Sun Devils at the end of three.
 
FOURTH QUARTER
The foot was never let off the gas pedal, as a slew of Sun Devils came into the game ready to play. Taylor Pinzone scored her second of the game to extend the lead to 14, before the Buffaloes came back with two goals. But it was Arizona State who would finish off strong, scoring the final two goals of the game courtesy of Maddy Hunter and Anna Thornton. ASU held an advantage in all four quarters, dominating the game from start to finish.
 
QUOTABLES
Head Coach Tim McCormack

On how everyone came ready to play
"Every day is game day and when you show up to practices and if people do they would understand that every player is just as important. With that, comes a massive amount of reps and big-time situations every day, playing against really good players and having the ability to get better and grow, collectively, not just the top four or five, it's 44 (players) across the board. That pays off pretty nicely when something happens if someone goes down or if you need somebody else to step up like we've seen a few times this season already."
 
On Paige McGlothlin's stepping up into the starting lineup
"Paige was phenomenal, individually. She's a great defender as a midi, we knew that and she has good solid experience under her belt but it was her first time where she actually had to play defense. She kind of found out this morning and to go in with that kind of confidence, she was challenging people 10 yards outside the 12 right on the first two possessions and really set the tone and it was unbelievable for her to be able to do that and showed a ton of confidence and proved what I said in the beginning, if you show up and treat every day like game day and continue to get better every day and have fun, whoever's out there will really get the job done."
 
On Carley Adams breaking out with five goals
"Huge for herself for her own confidence, which she didn't lack for a second when she wasn't getting that but it was one of those things where you keep firing and they're going to fall at some point. She had a lot of good shots off in the past couple of weeks and these ones fell and she will continue to do that. The bench was fired up for her, she was fired up and as you mentioned, I think she would be the first person to give everyone else the credit that they helped her get there as well."
 
On maintaining the intensity despite a big halftime lead
"The team understood that lacrosse is a 60-minute game, it's not done in 30 it's not done in 15, you can have a great 15 minutes but there's still 45 to go, at least. They really live that mentality today and showed up and matched or exceeded any energy that we saw and it was awesome."
 
On Emily Glagolev's nine-point performance
"Anyone can get open on any given day with the way that we're playing, it happened to be a great day for her on that realm. She buried a couple of 8-meters as well which is great. Three assists to add to the goals that she had, just all around she played loose she played free she had a lot of fun out there. She got better and did everything we try to aspire to do in Sun Devil lacrosse, it was great."
 
On re-setting for next week
"We're going to take it one day at a time, we're excited for Tuesday to get back out there as a team and take a day off tomorrow to get some rest and then we have another game day Tuesday together to keep working on getting better. 
 
Senior midfielder Paige McGlothlin
 
On when she found out she'd be starting on defense
"I actually found out this morning, grabbing my breakfast. I honestly talked to Mal (Mallory Martel) a lot. I play her spot during sevens but obviously, as a midfielder, I'm not used to the transition game or the ride so she talked me through that and drew it out for me so that was really helpful to have her. Other than that, I trusted that my teammates were going to tell me where they needed me."
 
On relying on the support of her teammates
"I thought the communication was incredible and I think that's why we held them to such few goals. Everyone was really loud and we all had each other backs and it was some really great leadership back there, also from Katie Vahle as well."
 
On the depth of the team
"Tim always says that everyone has to be ready at all times and today was a great example. I mean, (Olivia) Kroah found out this morning, I found out this morning and you just have to trust that your teammates have your back and everyone's prepared. We say it's game day every day even when it's just practice so we're prepared for this."
 
On holding Colorado to only six goals
"It is so exciting. Like we were saying, we had so much fun out there and I think that's what it really comes down to. We played as a unit, as a whole team honestly, from Katie Vahle all the way to the attack and it showed and we had a really good time today. It was really exciting."
 
Redshirt Senior Attacker Emily Glagolev
 
On the team effort and what was working 
"I think we were working really well off-ball together and I think coming off of last game, we had really good movements we just weren't finishing our shots as much, so, I think today we kind of put it all together and had a really good offensive show."
 
On Carley Adams scoring five goals
"It was great, I mean I think our whole offense this season has been struggling to get the ball in the back of the net. Like I said we've been getting a ton of open cuts and open looks and it felt good today to finally put it in the back of the net."
 
On Paige McGlothlin and Olivia Kroah stepping up
"It shows that any game anyone can go in and make a difference. I think our team, we compete every day at practice like it's a game day so I think that helps a lot too."

On re-setting for next week
"I think enjoy it for today and then move on to next week and focus on the week ahead."
 
UP NEXT
The Sun Devils hit the road for a three-game stretch, continuing Pac-12 Conference play. A huge test awaits on Friday, Mar. 18, when ASU travels to defending Pac-12 Regular Season and Tournament Champions Stanford. The game will be broadcasted on the Stanford Live Stream, with live stats provided here. Arizona State will be looking for their second straight Top-25 win, as the Cardinal were ranked last week. Stanford is the lone remaining Pac-12 team that Arizona State has not beaten under Coach McCormack. 
 
The Bay Area trip continues with a Sunday, Mar. 20 matchup with California, a team the Sun Devils defeated twice last season. The game will be broadcasted on Pac-12 Regional Bay Area Network and the Pac-12 Now App, with more information available here. Rounding out the road trip is a showdown with USC on Friday, Mar. 25. 
 
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