Devils Stave Off Feisty Poets In Scrimmage

Arizona State held off a late charge from the Whittier Poets to win narrowly, 9-8. Characterized by abrupt momentum swings, the game was a preview of what’s usually seen from ASU in the regular season.

And to think, this was only a scrimmage.

After giving up a goal early in the game, the Sun Devils responded phenomenally well, going on a 5-1 run to end the first quarter. However, the second quarter was much slower paced, with only two goals being scored to make the score 6-3 going into the half. 

“The energy level pretty much went down after that first quarter,” said ASU head coach Chris Malone.

Coming out of halftime, the third quarter was a lesson in what happens when you start slow. Whittier started using their physicality to overpower some of the Devils’ smaller attackers and midfielders, and scored four straight to pull ahead 7-6. ASU could not seem to conjure a good offensive possession until the final minute of the third, where an ASU goal knotted it at 7 apiece going into the fourth. 

“One thing I liked about the scrimmage was our resiliency. Losing a big lead like that and still being able to come back and win – that’s huge,” Malone said.

While the Sun Devils grinded their way to a 9-7 lead late in the fourth, a goal by the Poets with two minutes left threatened the slim lead. However, the defense stepped up in a big way in Whittier’s final offensive possession, forcing a turnover with 30 seconds left to run out the clock.

One could say that the decline in the vigor shown on the field by ASU was influenced by the team’s attempt to field every player for playing time. Although the rotations were featuring more and more inexperienced players as the first half went on, Malone admitted they still have a ways to go. 

“There’s little things we’ve gotta fix. And we will fix them.”

Arizona State will play in their regular season opener next Saturday, February 16th, against the no. 16 California Golden Bears.

Comments

[A Fan]

Brett, were you even at this game? Sounds like Coach Malone rattled off some sound bites and you cobbled together a "story" with the score line....not a word about any specific player performances! Who should we be looking out for as new faces? How did our upper class perform against Div 3 competition. New goalie in cage for the Devils this season, any report on his performance? Come on Brett, you can do better than this!

[Cuyler]

"Fan," thank you so much for your commentary. I love it! I think that this was a well written article, and stand by it as a solid recap of the scrimmage. However, you are absolutely right that there is more that we can do here, and as you said, we CAN do better than this. And we will. Keep an eye on the site this week as we respond to many of your specific requests and hopefully more, starting with a look at Brandon Propp.

Keep the comments coming! Our lacrosse coverage is growing and developing, but our access to the team is unparalleled, and we will leverage that access to bring you what you want to know about the team. Watch for answers to your questions and for your commentary to help shape our coverage going forward.

Thanks for reading,
Cuyler Meade,
Editor in chief, CronkiteSports.com, Walter Cronkite Sports Network

[Brett Cowett]

When it came to individual player performances, it was very hard to do something like that, as the team doesn't have numbers on the back of their practice/scrimmage jerseys. So I'll try to answer this as well as I can.
The upper class performed really well. Started off a bit sluggish, but that's to be expected with a team's first full game/scrimmage together. ASU reeled off a lot of good possessions along with 5 goals, and they were dominating Whittier by the end of the 1st. Subs and second-stringers came in in the 2nd, and while the defense held up, the offense dried up as well, Although they stymied the Poets, ASU wasn't effective on the offensive end either.
Considering the upper class guys, they are top-notch. I didn't see any problems with them at all. What I'm really worried about is the subs. They got overpowered and outran on defense often, especially in the 3rd quarter.
We'll learn a lot more after their game with Cal.