Ben Martynec, Payson Clark and the Arizona State Sun Devils lacrosse team outlasted the UNLV Rebels in an 11-6 victory on Sunday afternoon. Martynec and Clark combined for a total of 8 points in the SLC divisional matchup. After the first half ended in a 4-4 tie, the Sun Devils deployed their strong defensive unit and held UNLV to only 2 goals in the final 30 minutes of action.
With 45 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Cody Root nailed a goal home to make it a one goal game, but that was as close as the Rebels would come. 39 seconds later, Ben Martynec turned the momentum right back in ASU’s favor and extended the lead to two.
And in the final quarter, the play of senior goaltender Dylan Westfall became crucial, as he held UNLV’s offense scoreless while the Devils started to finish the job on the other end. In that fourth quarter, ASU scored four goals to tear the game open and eliminate any hopes the Rebels may have had.
To start off the game, the scoring was back and forth as Nick Peterson gave UNLV a 1-0 lead just over 5 minutes into the opening quarter, followed by three consecutive ASU goals.
However, the Rebels fought their way back into it and scored two in a row to tie it once more at 3-3. At half, the score was knotted up yet again in a 4-4 deadlock. Finally, though, the third quarter rolled around and the game was broken open with a 7-5 lead for the Devils. UNLV’s one final resurgence fell short, and ASU went on to take the win.
The loss dropped the Rebels to 3-7 on the year and 2-2 in conference play, as the team dropped all three of its games in Arizona this weekend. The team played Arizona on Friday, followed up by Grand Canyon University on Saturday, and finally finished off the tough trip by taking on the Devils today.
They look ahead to close out their season with another three-day stretch full of games, which will kick off next weekend, starting with a home game against Cal State Long Beach in Vegas. However, the very next day they’re taking on the Ducks in Eugene, followed by a road game against Oregon State less than 18 hours later.
ASU is now 8-5 on the season, and looks to play the University of Arizona six days from now in a game that will decide the winner of the SLC South. Also, the winner of that match-up will earn a first-round bye in the SLC Tournament.
For the Sun Devils, the victory today marks the first time since early March that the team has racked up back-to-back wins. The team will have a lot of confidence heading into Tucson next weekend. The rivalry game against the Laxcats is scheduled to start at 2:00 pm on Saturday, April 21.
