The ASU lacrosse team (6-11, 1-9 Pac-12) dropped it’s final regular season game to the No. 21 USC Trojans, 19-2, on Saturday at the Sun Devil Soccer/Lacrosse Stadium.
“Really impressed with our girls played within the first twenty minutes of the game when the score was 5-1," head coach Courtney Martinez Connor said. "We just needed to get possession of the ball more and to take quality shots ... our girls showed fight and improvement.”
The Trojans started the game on a 3-0 run fueled by two unassisted goals from sophomore attacker Izzy McMahon.
The Sun Devils' scoring drought ended when freshman attacker Kate Dougherty assisted junior attacker Kerri Clayton on a fast break. Clayton would finish the game as the only Sun Devil to score, bringing her season total up to 42.
“We’ve got to go to some really cool places and see a lot cool things and just play games," Clayton said. "It wasn’t how we wanted to have our record or even how we wanted to play some games, but I think each game is something to learn from ... just looking back on the whole season, being a part of history was pretty cool.”
USC's offense showed versatility, with six different goal scorers in the first period and closed out the half on a 9-0 run.
USC midfielder freshman Kelsey Huff and sophomore Kerrigan Miller displayed a balanced attack on the field, with 3 goals and 2 assists each. Sophomore attackers Hope Anhut and midfielder Kaeli Huff scored 2 goals each.
USC continued to dominate in the second half. The Trojans picked up twice as many ground balls as the Sun Devils and won 18 out of 23 draw controls.
The Sun Devils finished its inaugural season at 6-11. Next week, they will travel to Boulder, Colorado for the first ever women's lacrosse Pac-12 Championship Tournament.
“We’ve grown tremendously," junior captain defender Rachel Gregory said. "This is real and this is tough ... we got a good taste of Division I, so I’m excited for the postseason.”
Reach the reporter at nsheehy@asu.edu or follow @nsheehy_nick on Twitter.
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