TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona State lacrosse (0-2) suffered its second loss of the season in its home opener against the No. 22-ranked Denver (2-0) despite a second-half surge.

The Sun Devils opened up their season on Saturday, Feb. 7, against Oregon away from home, falling in overtime 12-11. Hoping to come out with a win in front of home fans, ASU struggled to get momentum going in front of the home crowd with a 14-7 final score in favor of the Pioneers.

Nearly 800 fans came out to Sun Devil Soccer and Lacrosse Stadium to cheer on their Sun Devils for the first time this season.

“It’s exciting to see all these fans here,” head coach Taryn VanThof Puls said. “A great start to what our home fanbase is going to look like throughout the rest of the season. I wish we could have put a win on the table for them, but my kids turned around and fought.”

The first quarter is one that this ASU will want to forget, being shut out in the first frame 6-0.

Goaltending seemed to be a struggle for the majority of the quarter as sophomore goalie Regan Spichiger let in four goals on four shots faced in the 11 minutes she was in the crease. 

After going down 4-0 in the first, freshman goalie Gabriella Henry got the nod and made her debut for the Sun Devils.

“We had a couple of kids stepping up off the bench, Gabby being one of them, and she came in, she did her job,” VanThof Puls said. “Her team was supporting her and backing her, and that’s what you can ask for, those kids that jump in and earn opportunities and earn minutes.”

Once Henry stepped in, it was clear that she was a key difference maker in this matchup, having 11 saves and 10 goals allowed for a .524 save percentage compared to Spichiger’s .000.

ASU went into the locker rooms down 9-2, with its two lone goals coming from senior midfielder Claire Beucher and sophomore midfielder Kayli Carannante.

The team came out for the third quarter with something to prove, trying to make a second-half comeback.

“We are going up against a ranked opponent; we are the underdog at that moment,” VanThof Puls said. “We got nothing to lose, right? We’ve got to just fight and give our best fight.”

The Sun Devils came out and matched the Pioneers' shot attempts with seven after being outshot for the first two quarters.

ASU found the back of the net twice in the third frame with star senior attacker Tegan Ng scoring the Sun Devils third goal of the day and her fourth of the season. 

Shortly after, fellow senior attacker and captain Lydia Oldknow also scored her fourth of the season.

Henry and the ASU defense held Denver to just two goals and five shots on goal, the fewest in the matchup.

Although the third quarter proved successful, the Sun Devils were unable to mount a comeback in the fourth quarter, this time, scoring three goals.

Oldknow went down with an injury early in the fourth quarter, and sophomore Addie Shevitz stepped into that top attacking trio of Ng and senior Jordyn Behar.

Shevitz immediately made an impact on her call from the bench, scoring on a free position shot.

“Addie is a hustle player,” VanThof Puls said. “She’s gonna give you the extra ground ball, she’s gonna give you the extra opportunity shooting, and I’d love to see us find a rhythm sooner offensively with her right in the mix.”

As the time ticked down, Oldknow returned to the game as she and Ng scored the final goals of the game as the clock expired.

With the second half surge being opposite of the experience in their loss to Oregon, which featured an explosive first half. Working on playing the full 60 minutes is crucial to this team finding success in the future.

“Last week we learned we could play the first quarter and then we couldn’t finish out the third, and today we flipped it,” VanThof Puls said. “We could finish out the third, but we really needed a gut punch on the first, so now coming into next week, we are really focusing on all four quarters, and really making sure we are consistent in all four.”