TEMPE – Arizona State lacrosse (3-2) opened their two-game homestand against ranked opponents with a heartbreaking 10-9 defeat to No. 6 Michigan (5-0) on Tuesday at Sun Devil Soccer/Lacrosse Stadium. ASU led 90 seconds into the game up until the final three minutes of the fourth quarter, after a five-goal frame for the Wolverines, and fell just short of pulling off the upset.
Head Coach Taryn VanThof praised her team's resiliency against a top-10 team in the nation, and emphasizes the opportunity ahead with No. 11 Florida in town on Sunday, "We're not peaking yet, and I think that's the best part. It's early, and this team is continuing to build."
The Sun Devils became the first team to tally more than four goals against the Wolverines this season after dropping nine goals in today's contest. Going into today, Michigan clinged onto the top save percentage in the NCAA after posting a 76.9% save percentage, but they saved 45.8% of shots today.
ASU scored by committee as seven different players tallied a goal. Senior attacker Mina Scott found the back of the net three times to lead the team, and notched her fourth hat trick of the season.
Junior goalkeeper Katie Vahle led ASU's stingy defense, tying her season-high of nine saves. The Sun Devils also allowed just 15 of 19 clears to Michigan, who had come into the game with the sixth-best clearing percentage in the league at 95.8%. Defensively, ASU caused a season-high 11 Wolverine turnovers.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Four second quarter goals powered the Sun Devils to a 5-3 lead at the half. In the first quarter, Vahle made a series of big saves to stifle the Wolverine's aggressive attack. She made an impressive stop 45 seconds into the game to shut down a Michigan attacker's free-position attempt. Trailing the Wolverines by a goal, graduate attacker Shannon Urey rifled a hard shot past the goalie from above the 8-meter line to tie the game 1-1 with 28 seconds left.
Just over 90 seconds into the second quarter, sophomore attacker Teagan Ng picked up a ground ball off the rebound and scored to give the Sun Devils a 2-1 lead. Less than a minute later, junior midfielder Berit Brookfield drove to the net and buried her close-range shot to extend ASU's advantage by two goals. After two consecutive Michigan scores, Scott capitalized on her free-position shot to put the Sun Devils ahead 4-3. With 3:36 remaining, junior midfielder Bella Ingrao beat the Michigan goaltender to give ASU a two-goal lead.
In the second half, Scott struck again to give the Sun Devils their biggest lead of the game, 6-3, with 6:46 remaining in the third quarter. With the game tied 6-6 in the fourth quarter, sophomore attacker Lydia Oldknow whacked a loose rebound across the line to put ASU back in front with 13:26 left in the game. Less than three minutes later, junior attacker Anna Thornon's score put the Sun Devils ahead 8-6. Scott completed her hat trick with 6:15 remaining to give ASU a 9-7 advantage.
NOTABLES:
ASU will host No. 11 Florida (1-2) on Sunday, March 3 at 11 a.m. MST at Sun Devil Soccer/Lacrosse Stadium. Fans can keep up with all the live action and news of Sun Devil Lacrosse by following @SunDevilWLax on Instagram and Twitter/X, and Sun Devil Women's Lacrosse on Facebook. The game will be available to watch via ASU Live Stream, and tickets are available to purchase here.
Head Coach Taryn VanThof praised her team's resiliency against a top-10 team in the nation, and emphasizes the opportunity ahead with No. 11 Florida in town on Sunday, "We're not peaking yet, and I think that's the best part. It's early, and this team is continuing to build."
The Sun Devils became the first team to tally more than four goals against the Wolverines this season after dropping nine goals in today's contest. Going into today, Michigan clinged onto the top save percentage in the NCAA after posting a 76.9% save percentage, but they saved 45.8% of shots today.
ASU scored by committee as seven different players tallied a goal. Senior attacker Mina Scott found the back of the net three times to lead the team, and notched her fourth hat trick of the season.
Junior goalkeeper Katie Vahle led ASU's stingy defense, tying her season-high of nine saves. The Sun Devils also allowed just 15 of 19 clears to Michigan, who had come into the game with the sixth-best clearing percentage in the league at 95.8%. Defensively, ASU caused a season-high 11 Wolverine turnovers.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Four second quarter goals powered the Sun Devils to a 5-3 lead at the half. In the first quarter, Vahle made a series of big saves to stifle the Wolverine's aggressive attack. She made an impressive stop 45 seconds into the game to shut down a Michigan attacker's free-position attempt. Trailing the Wolverines by a goal, graduate attacker Shannon Urey rifled a hard shot past the goalie from above the 8-meter line to tie the game 1-1 with 28 seconds left.
Just over 90 seconds into the second quarter, sophomore attacker Teagan Ng picked up a ground ball off the rebound and scored to give the Sun Devils a 2-1 lead. Less than a minute later, junior midfielder Berit Brookfield drove to the net and buried her close-range shot to extend ASU's advantage by two goals. After two consecutive Michigan scores, Scott capitalized on her free-position shot to put the Sun Devils ahead 4-3. With 3:36 remaining, junior midfielder Bella Ingrao beat the Michigan goaltender to give ASU a two-goal lead.
In the second half, Scott struck again to give the Sun Devils their biggest lead of the game, 6-3, with 6:46 remaining in the third quarter. With the game tied 6-6 in the fourth quarter, sophomore attacker Lydia Oldknow whacked a loose rebound across the line to put ASU back in front with 13:26 left in the game. Less than three minutes later, junior attacker Anna Thornon's score put the Sun Devils ahead 8-6. Scott completed her hat trick with 6:15 remaining to give ASU a 9-7 advantage.
NOTABLES:
- Anna Thornton (10G-7A) and Mina Scott (14G-3A) lead the team with 17 points each.
- Mina Scott netted three goals against Michigan and still sits in sixth all-time in the program's record books. Katie Brodsky's 80 goals holds the fifth place spot.
- Scott's hat trick against the Wolverines was the 11th hat trick for the Sun Devils this year, and fourth for Scott. She now leads teammates Shannon Urey (3), Anna Thornton (2) and Lydia Oldknow (2).
- Katie Vahle has made nine saves in consecutive games, both season-highs.
- Zoe Mazur's 41 draw controls in five games have her at 10th all-time in a single season behind Taylor Pinzone's 43 in 2022.
ASU will host No. 11 Florida (1-2) on Sunday, March 3 at 11 a.m. MST at Sun Devil Soccer/Lacrosse Stadium. Fans can keep up with all the live action and news of Sun Devil Lacrosse by following @SunDevilWLax on Instagram and Twitter/X, and Sun Devil Women's Lacrosse on Facebook. The game will be available to watch via ASU Live Stream, and tickets are available to purchase here.