Friday, Feb. 9 | 3 p.m. ET | Kennesaw, Ga. | Fifth Third Bank Stadium
Watch: http://www.espn.com/watch/_/id/3284496/arizona-state-vs-kennesaw-state-w-lacrosse
Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=206324
Game 2: Arizona State at Stetson
Sunday, Feb. 11 | 12 p.m. ET | DeLand, Fla. | Athletic Training Center
Watch: http://www.espn.com/watch/_/id/3284497/arizona-state-vs-stetson-w-lacrosse
Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=203297
Sun Devils Open Inaugural Season on the Florida-Georgia Line
The Arizona State lacrosse team opens its inaugural season on the Florida-Georgia line this weekend, traveling to Kennesaw, Ga. and DeLand, Fla. to take on Kennesaw State and Stetson on Feb. 9 at 3 p.m. ET and Feb. 11 at noon ET, respectively. The newest Sun Devils play the ASUN duo as the first of three weekends on the road to start 2018 play. Both games will be broadcasted on ESPN3.
Scouting the Opposition
Kennesaw State: The Owls finished up the 2017 season with a program-record eight wins under first-year head coach Laura Maness. The 2017 team finished eighth in the country in draw controls winning 15.29 per game, and were also first in the country in ground balls picking up 24.65 per game. The Owls lost eight seniors, but return standout freshmen (now sophomores) Maura Palandro and Izzy Palermo who were both named to the ASUN All-Freshman team after starting in every game for the Owls.
Stetson: The Hatters are coming off a strong 2017, a season in which they set or tied 20 program records, including most wins in a season, longest winning streak and most ASUN victories. The Hatters return now-seniors Maddie Holvey and Taylor Patrizi, Stetson's leaders in career draw controls at 96 and 87, respectively.
History in the Making
The entire 2018 season will welcome records and firsts for the Sun Devil women's lacrosse team as they compete in their inaugural season and the inaugural season of women's lacrosse in the Pac-12 Conference. Women's lacrosse was the 25th varsity sport added at Arizona State University after a generous donation that supported the elevation of the Sun Devil men's ice hockey team to the NCAA Division I level provided enough support to add women's NCAA programs for both Title IX compliance and to expand educational opportunities for future Sun Devil student-athletes.
Season Look-Ahead
The Sun Devils start the first three weeks of their inaugural season on the road, starting this weekend at Kennesaw State (Feb. 9) and Stetson (Feb. 11). The Sun Devils will then come back west to face San Diego State on Feb. 17 before flying cross-country again to take on Manhattan (Feb. 24) and Columbia (Feb. 26) in the Big Apple.
Fans will get to see the Sun Devils for the first time in Tempe in week four at the Sun Devil Soccer/Lacrosse Stadium on Saturday Mar. 3 against Presbyterian at 3 p.m.
Pac-12 conference play will also celebrate its inauguration in 2018. The Sun Devils will face each team twice during the season in a home-and-away series, starting with the USC Trojans in Los Angeles on Mar. 10.
After the first Pac-12 weekend the Sun Devils will return home for a three-game stretch against Pac-12 rivals Oregon (Mar. 16) and Colorado (Mar. 18) before a weekday tilt with Liberty on Tuesday, Mar. 20 at 5 p.m. MT.
The team faces Stanford and Cal two weeks in a row for their home-and-away series, traveling to the Bay Area Mar. 23 (Stanford) and 25 (Cal) before facing them at home on Mar. 30 (Stanford) and Apr. 1 (Cal). The match against Cal at home will also be the Sun Devils' debut on the Pac-12 Network.
The Sun Devils complete the regular season traveling to Oregon (Apr. 6) and Colorado (Apr. 8) before hosting USC on Apr. 21 to finish the home tilt.
Admission is free for all Sun Devil home games at Sun Devil Soccer/Lacrosse Stadium.
The inaugural Pac-12 Championship will take place Apr. 26-29 in Boulder, Colo. with Colorado as the host. All the quarterfinal, semifinal and championship matches will be broadcasted live on the Pac-12 Network.
Clayton and Gregory Dubbed as Team Captains in Inaugural Season
Per a team vote, the junior duo of Kerri Clayton and Rachel Gregory will lead the Sun Devils as they take the field for the first time in program history.
Clayton, a native of Baltimore, Md., came to Tempe after spending her freshman year at Jacksonville University where she appeared in 14 games and made four starts. She joined the Sun Devils as a member of the first class who received a "bonus year" to come to campus to practice and scrimmage with the new team.
"The relationships that we have on the team are special, and to be a first year program and competing in such a strong conference those relationships are what are going to help us excel," said Clayton. "I am honored that my teammates have trusted me and chosen Rachel and I to represent this team in the best possible way because I want nothing more than for this program to be rewarded for all the hard work we have done behind closed doors."
Gregory, from Babylon, N.Y., came to Tempe from Hofstra University where she was a CAA Commissioner's Academic Award recipient.
"I believe that teamwork and communication are two very crucial aspects in creating a successful team," Gregory added. "I am so excited to have the opportunity to implement those aspects of the game as a captain, and to be a part of creating a team culture of integrity, trust and hard work."
Clayton plays as an attacker for the Sun Devils and Gregory serves as a defender, meaning the team will have leaders on opposite sides of the field.
In addition to the two captains, the team also chose six additional players to serve as part of the leadership council, a group of freshmen and sophomores who will help develop the young team as the program starts its establishing years.
In the freshmen group, midfielders Emily Glagolev and Maddy Hunter and defender Maria Villanti will provide leadership. For the sophomores, goalkeeper Berkeley Bonneau, defender Kristina Coppinger and midfielder Mia Harp will take the helm.
Young Devils
With a new NCAA Division I team comes a new crop of student-athletes and the 2018 Sun Devils are no different. The inaugural team features 33 underclassmen (22 freshmen and 11 sophomores) and just seven upperclassmen (four juniors and three seniors). Junior co-captains Kerri Clayton and Rachel Gregory will help lead the young team in its first year.
Country-Wide Devils
The 2018 Sun Devils come to Tempe from all across the country, as 14 different states are represented in the 40-man roster. Those states include Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Washington. Midfielder Avery Hamill and defender Ashley McNeill also represent the great country of Canada, making the Sun Devils international as well.
Smarty Devils
Eight Sun Devil lacrosse players are members of Barrett, The Honors College at ASU, one of the preeminent honors colleges in the nation. Kristina Coppinger, Kasey Geddis, Haley Gorke, Katie Hendrix, Maddy Hunter, Ashley McNeill, Campbell Poe, and Daniela Wright all challenge themselves on the field and in the classroom by taking extra coursework and completing a thesis prior to graduation. A 2017-18 school year record 68 Sun Devil student-athletes are all members of the honors college.
Conference Inauguration
Just as the Sun Devils are being inaugurated into the women's lacrosse world, the Pac-12 Conference is the third Power Five conference to support the sport. The Sun Devils join the USC Trojans, Stanford Cardinal, California Golden Bears, Colorado Buffalos and Oregon Ducks, who were all previously members of the MPSF Conference, to make up the six teams necessary for a conference championship. In a pre-season poll, three Pac-12 teams are ranked in the IWLCA Pre-Season Coaches Poll. The Trojans come in at No. 8 after advancing to the NCAA quarterfinals for the second year in a row before losing to eventual runner-up Boston College. Colorado comes in at No. 17 and Stanford rounds out the Pac-12's rankings at No. 23.