(Photo: Jodi Vosika/ASU Lacrosse)
On Sunday, the MCLA schedules were released. While Arizona State is poised for another successful season after returning a hefty majority of their core from last year’s Final Four team, the road won’t be easy.
The toughest part will be a two-week stretch in early March. During that span, ASU is scheduled to play four road games, including three that will be extremely difficult against longtime rival Chapman, Colorado and Colorado State. All three teams will likely be ranked in the top five to open the season.
“We want to play the best teams that we can every year,” Arizona State head coach Chris Malone said. “It was a big priority to get both Colorado and Colorado State on the schedule this year.”
Chapman and UNLV are the only SLC North opponents on the Sun Devils’ schedule, meaning that often-scheduled UCSB won’t meet Arizona State until a possible postseason clash. The two teams met twice in last year’s postseason, once in the SLC Championship game, and the second coming in the quarterfinals of the national tournament.
Much like last year, the season doesn’t start easy. ASU had a tough match-up against California to kick things off in 2013, and in 2014, it will be Stanford. The Cardinal are coming off a tournament appearance and one of the most successful seasons in school history.
However, perhaps the most interesting note on ASU’s 2014 schedule is the placement of the Arizona game. For only the second time since 2004, the Arizona-ASU game isn’t the regular season finale. Instead, Grand Canyon University has taken the spot in a game that Arizona State will host.
“It was just a date that worked out for both teams,” Malone said. “It wasn’t a matter of, ‘Hey, let’s play this as the last game of the year.’ It just so happened to have worked out like this.”
GCU and ASU have recently developed something of a rivalry, most notably after the Lopes handed the Sun Devils their first-ever SLC South loss to take the divisional crown last season. The two teams could likely be dueling for the title again this year, and it would come on the final day of the regular season for both teams.
ASU will only play one home game prior to March 19th, but they’ll be hosting five of the final seven games on their schedule.
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