(Photo: Liesl Babicka/WCSN)
After losing the first two games of the season by one goal each the Sun Devils picked up their first win of the season defeating the Georgia Bulldogs Sunday 12-7 in Athens.
Seven different Sun Devils scored goals in this game including a hat trick from sophomore Ben Parietti. Tommy Carrasco, Jake Martens, and Henry Griffith all scored two goals each.
The Sun Devils started the game on a 3-0 run with goals from Carrasco, Emerson Roth, and Parietti. UGA attackmen Holin Axley would stop the bleeding for the Bulldogs scoring before the first quarter ended.
Six goals between both teams in the second quarter all started from a finish on the crease from Johnny Mock to cut the the Bulldogs deficit to one goal. ASU would answer back with another 3-0 run with scores from Griffith, Rhett Rogers, and Jake Marthens. A Sun Devil penalty would lead to a man up goal from Bulldog midfielder Ian Hurley. Parietti would then rip his second goal of the game for Arizona State with 20 seconds left before halftime making the score 7-3.
UGA midfielder Michael Garnett would start off the second half with a strong dodge and goal from behind the net. Carrasco would later capitalize on a man-up opportunity making the score 8-4. Five minutes later Ryan Bradway would score opening up the game to 9-4 with 2:40 left in the third quarter.
After a Georgia fast-break goal, Griffith would score his second goal of the game in transition with fake-high, go-low finish. UGA would gain some momentum on a 2-0 run starting from a John Nuwar lefty laser with 7:09 left in the game. Anderson Whit later fed Johnny Mock on the crease for a bounce shot that would cut the Sun Devil lead to 10-7. After drawing a penalty Marthens would shoot the ball off the inside pipe for his second of the game. The exceeding man-up possession allowed Parietti to score completing the hat trick and taking away any hopes for a UGA comeback.
ASU’s extra man offence was very efficient scoring two man-up goals off UGA penalties. The Sun Devils also played very well in transition running lots of young middies including freshman Brandon Rogers, Sean O’ Gara, and Emerson Roth. Solid play from faceoff man Trevor Driscoll and goalie Johnny Perlite also proved to be a huge benefit for the Sun Devils in this game.
After ASU’s weekend in Georgia concluded, the team is now at a record of 1-2 while Georgia drops their first loss of the season bringing down their record to 3-1. Head Coach Todd MacRobbie and team look to build off this win with two home games next week.
The Sun Devils next game will be against Colorado State Thursday, Feb. 23 at 7:00, and then they will play the Colorado Buffalos two days later at noon.
