An open goal closed the door on the Southwestern Lacrosse Conference championship game.

The Arizona State University Sun Devils defeated the Chapman Panthers, 12-11, in overtime to win the SLC tournament on Sunday. Arizona State earned a bid to the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association Championships while Chapman must wait until next week to learn whether it will receive an at-large bid, said senior midfielder Blake Whitcomb.

“Arizona [State] is a very great offensive team and we knew it was going to be a battle,” Whitcomb said.

The Panthers trailed 11-10 with two seconds left in regulation. Senior midfielder Chris Smalls in-bounded the ball to senior attack Connor Martin, whose shot went past the stick of ASU’s goalie Dylan Westfall.

“I’ve been in this game for over 20 years and never seen anything like that shot,” defensive coach Will Hemsley said.

With Chapman’s spirit high, the game moved into overtime, where the first team to score wins.

A little more than two minutes of scoreless overtime had expired when freshman goalie Matt Sathrum had possession of the ball. Sathrum stepped out of the goal to clear the ball and was hit by the swinging stick of Arizona State’s senior attack Tyler Westfall. The jolt knocked the ball from Sathrum’s basket. Westfall picked up the lose ball and shot the game winner on a wide-open goal.

“No inspiration comes from a loss like that,” Head Coach Mike Wood said.

The game was close from the start. The largest margin came with two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, when ASU led by a pair of goals.

“In a game that close there is no room for mistakes or to even think about mistakes,” Hemsley said.

Sophomore attack Andrew Clayton had four goals for the Panthers.

Three of the goals came in succession in the second quarter. Martin had three goals and Whitcomb had two.

“Offensively we should have finished more shots than we did,” Whitcomb said.

Wood was complimentary of the entire team.

“There wasn’t one standout player in that game, the whole team played well,” he said. “It was disappointing being the number one seed in the tournaments and then losing in the final game.”

Sunday’s game was the conclusion of a three-day tournament that began last Thursday. Loyola Marymount defeated the University of San Diego 11-5 while University of California, Santa Barbara beat University of Arizona 13-8 in the first day of the tournament.

The Panthers and Sun Devils won their games on Saturday to earn a spot in the championship game.

“[The Sun Devils] were the exact same team, just older and wiser with a lot of new faces,” Hemsley said.

The MCLA National Tournament will take place at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Denver, Colo.
The tournament begins May 11 and the championship game is played on May 15. The University of Michigan has won the national championship for the past two years, defeating Chapman both times.

“Now it’s just a matter of getting back to business. We need to wash that game away, mentally, and start fresh,” Hemsley said.


Contact this reporter: katelyn.geary@thepantheronline.com