LOS ANGELES - The Pac-12 Women’s Lacrosse Tournament kicked off on Wednesday, May 1 from the LA Memorial Coliseum, with No. 4 seed Arizona State and No. 3 seed Colorado each winning their first-round matchups against No. 5 seed Oregon and No. 6 seed UC Davis, respectively.

The semifinals get underway Thursday, May 2, with top-seeded Stanford taking on the Sun Devils at 4 p.m. PT / 5 p.m. MT. Host No. 2 USC battles the Buffaloes tomorrow at 7 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. MT, and both contests are set to air on Pac-12 Networks.

Game One

The Sun Devils jumped to a 4-0 lead early, two of those goals coming from Mina Scott who had four on the day. Haley Cummins got Oregon on the board with 5:41 remaining in the first, one of her team-leading four goals in the contest. Shannon Urey put Arizona State back up by four off an assist from the 2023 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Teagan Ng to end the first. The Sun Devils out-shot the Ducks 13-6 in the first 15 minutes, nine of which were on goal.

Arizona State continued to roll in the second, scoring three-straight times to push the lead to seven. Oregon battled back with scores from Cummins and Katie Collins to cut the deficit to six at 11-5, however Urey found the back of the net with 2:52 left in the half and give the Sun Devils a 12-5 lead at the break. Arizona State was a perfect 17-17 in clears, including 12-12 in the first half.

Scott scored back-to-back goals to start the third, sparking a 5-0 run for Arizona State as they went up 17-5 before Anna Simmons ended the streak with her first goal of the game. Oregon battled back in the fourth quarter, outscoring Arizona State 6-1 on 13 total shots, but Arizona State thwarted the comeback for the 19-12 victory.

Katie Vahle had seven saves for her ninth win of the season. Fouls hindered Oregon in the contest, with the Ducks committing 28 fouls compared to Arizona State’s 10. The Sun Devils will be making their third straight Pac-12 Tournament semifinals appearance, facing off against Stanford in a rematch of the 2022 championship game.

Game Two

Madeline Pisani put Colorado on the board 25 seconds into the game, her first of game-high six goals on the night. Ashley Laing made a pair of saves early on in the first, and the Aggie defense forced a shot clock violation at the nine-minute mark to keep the deficit to one. The Buffaloes broke through with 6:30 left in the first as Pisani scored again, and Maddie Shoup made it 3-0 on a nice shovel shot moving to her right. Cami Johnson scored from the free position for UC Davis, making it a 3-1 game.

Johnson’s second free-position goal of the night cut the UC Davis deficit to one. Pisani’s hat trick came with 10:45 left in the first half as the senior bounced in her third goal of the day to put the Buffs back up by two, and, following a goal by Rachel Kennedy, Pisani scored again on a free position shot from the left side for the 6-2 Colorado lead. Shoup’s second and Emily Dodd’s first made it five-straight goals for the Buffaloes, however Reese Loseke answered for UC Davis with a goal to the bottom left. Natalie Markman added to the Aggie total with three seconds left, going top shelf to make it 8-4 at the half.

Laing made a big save on a free position attempt to start the third, and the Aggies answered on the other end with a goal from Ellie Raffo to cut it to three. Rhea Cosand scored 34 seconds later to force a Colorado timeout with the Buffs leading 8-6. Johnson recorded a hat trick out of the timeout, powering it past the Buff goalie to the upper-right corner and make it a one-score game. Molly Reed ended the Aggie run at the nine-minute mark, increasing the Colorado lead to 9-7. Johnson and Ella Brislin bookended an Ashley Stokes goal as the back-and-forth continued, making the score 10-9 in favor of the Buffaloes with just over three minutes to go. Dodd’s second wrapped up scoring in the third, putting the Buffs up 11-9 going into the final frame. In total, the third quarter featured 15 shots, 14 fouls, eight goals and five saves (all by Laing).

Pisani put Colorado back up by three on a bounce shot to the bottom-right corner, and the Buff lead was extended to four on another Pisani free position goal. UC Davis inched closer as Markman scored with 1:01 left, but Colorado ran out the clock in the final minute for the 13-10 win. The Buffs’ defense stepped up in the four quarter, limiting the Aggies to just one goal and two shots on goal.

Laing made 15 saves on the night, one shy from her season high. Johnson paced the Aggies with four goals.