SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The Aztec lacrosse team fell to Arizona State 17-9 in their PAC-12 conference opener Sunday afternoon. Sara Toner led the Aztecs with three goals.
Arizona State (5-4, 1-0) scored first but the Aztecs (1-9, 0-1) quickly answered, ending the first quarter only down by one. In the second quarter the Aztecs scored three unanswered goals in the first four minutes, and a goal by Frankie Garcia in the last four seconds ended the first half in a tie. The Aztecs fell short in the second half as they were out-scored 10-2 by Arizona State. The Sun Devils outshot the Aztecs 39-22 and 33-19 in shots on goal. SDSU was 0-4 in extra-man opportunities, while Arizona State was 6-7.
Sara Toner and Garcia each had three points. Toner from three goals, and Garcia from two goals and one assist. Jenna McDermott also had two goals, Kate Christos had one goal, one assist, and two caused turnovers, and Emma Betts had one goal. Goalkeeper Caitlin Boughton had 16 saves and 17 goals allowed on 39 shots faced.
The Sun Devils had seven different athletes score, led by Mina Scott and Teagan Ng with four points each. Scott from four goals, and Ng from three goals and one assist. Anna Thornton also had three goals. Zoe Mazur led the team with 10 draw controls and two caused turnovers. Goalkeeper Katie Vahle had 10 saves and nine goals allowed on 22 shots faced.
"I'm very proud of how our team wiped the slate clean of the first half of our season. We came out today and played three really strong quarters. I love the fight, the battle, they just continued throughout the game. I think it was a great showing of our first PAC-12 game," explained Head Coach Kylee White. "Our defense as a whole did great, Caitlin having ten saves in the first quarter, helped us gain confidence. Sara Toner keeps stepping on the field as the same person every game and it's great to have someone we can count on for that consistency. Frankie Garcia was determined today, you could just see the fire in her. We're just taking lots of positives from today and hoping we can bring that again on Saturday."
STAT OF THE GAME
SDSU had 13 ground balls to Dartmouth's 10.
THE NOTE
The Aztecs' nine turnovers are the least amount of turnovers they've had in a game this season.
UP NEXT
The Aztecs travel to Davis on Saturday March 23 to face UC Davis.