Despite being considered an East Coast sport, men's lacrosse isn't taken lightly here in the desert.
The ASU men's club lacrosse team, which captured the West Coast Lacrosse League title in 1995 and 1997, has high aspirations this season. Getting to the national championship in St. Louis looms on the players' minds.
"We believe we have a very good chance of winning this year," said Chris Mathison, the Sun Devil senior club president. "This is the strongest team since the 1995 and '97 championship teams."
After getting off to a 4-0 start in the fall exhibition season, ASU is on the right track. With 40 people reporting for tryouts and 25 making the final cut, getting a team to gel this quickly says a lot about this year's squad.
"We have much more talent than last season, and we clicked as a team right away," Sun Devil sophomore midfielder Marty Ahern said. "We've made a good start at a run at the national championship."
ASU, which fields 10 players from the prominent lacrosse towns of New England, has received huge contributions from the homegrown freshman trio of Rori Comiskey, Jeff Pilon and Matt Murphy. This group has been a big reason why the Sun Devils have put 63 goals in the net, 22 of which came in a win over NAU during the first preseason game.
ASU's defense, which has been led by junior Jake Murphy, sophomore Eric Kardesh and freshman Adam Wirtz, has held up its end of the bargain by allowing the opposition to score only 27 goals. Sun Devil junior goalkeeper Ethan Furtek, a transfer from Massachusetts, recorded a rare shutout against the Lumberjacks.
The Sun Devils have also recorded victories against the Desert Lacrosse Team, the ASU Alumni Team and the Tucson Lacrosse Team.
ASU alumnus Jon Minder, who was a member of the league championship teams, brings a winning attitude as the head coach. The Sun Devils field two other coaches in UA graduate Colin Baugh and former Michigan goalie Tom Hergot.
ASU is scheduled to begin its regular season in February.
Reach the reporter at john.powers@asu.edu.
