TEMPE – Sun Devil Lacrosse (5-3) defeated Akron (5-2), 14-8, in the last game of the seven-game homestand on Wednesday morning. Coming into the matchup, Akron's defense was allowing an average of 8.83 goals per game. However, the draw dominance and a combined 15 points for the senior attack trio were too much for the visitors to overcome at Sun Devil Lacrosse Stadium.
ASU’s draw control unit remained top notch with the Sun Devils recording 20 draw controls to Akron’s two. Wednesday marked the fourth-straight game that ASU has tallied 20+ draw controls, and have held their opponents to just 23 in that span.
The senior attacker duo of Lydia Oldknow and Teagan Ng led the offensive charge as thet combined for five goals and four assists. For the sixth time in seven games, senior attacker Jordyn Behar tallied seven-plus points, with Wednesday's season-high tying six assists along with one goal in the win.
Coming off her career-high 14 saves against Bucknell, Reagan Spichiger got the start in goal and had 10 saves and allowed just eight goals to the Zips. Wednesday was the second-lowest scoring contest of the season for Akron after coming into the matchup averaging 12.17 goals per game.
How it happened
The Sun Devils started strong against Akron netting three goals in the first two minutes of the game. Akron kept themselves in the game with back-to-back goals in the middle of the quarter, but a goal in the final two minutes by Ng extended the ASU lead to 4-2 to end the first quarter.
Senior midfielder Claire Beucher scored a goal for the Sun Devils to start off the second quarter before Akron battled back with two quick goals to make the score 5-4. ASU responded with two goals of their own, giving them a 7-4 lead heading into the second half.
Despite Akron’s two-goal effort, the Sun Devils added to their lead by four in the third quarter to go up 11-6. ASU was able to score twice, capitalizing on two man-up situations.
The beginning of the fourth quarter proved to be a defensive battle between the teams, until Akron was able to take advantage of a Sun Devil foul and score a free-position goal to make the score 11-7. Akron was able to manage another goal in the fourth quarter but it wasn’t enough as the Sun Devils added to their own total making the final score 14-8.
Sun Devil notables
- Ng pushed her goal-scoring streak to 28 games after 3 goals against Akron.
- Oldknow extended her point-scoring streak to 46 games – 45 of which she’s scored a goal in– dating back to the 2024 season.
- With one goal and six assists against Akron, Behar extended her point-scoring streak to 27 games, which dates back to the first game of the 2025 season.
- Freshman attacker Ava Whitt registered her second-straight multi-goal game after she tallied two against Bucknell and two against Akron.
- After the win, ASU is two games over .500 for the first time this season and has a three-game winning streak, which is the longest of the season.
- Viglione surpassed the 100 mark for draw controls this season after 17 against the Zips. She has 115 and had 15+ draw controls in each of her last four games.
- Wednesday marked the 7th home game of the season for the Sun Devils which leads the NCAA.
Up next
Arizona State will take on Mercer (2-4) on Saturday, March 14, at 11 a.m. MST at Five Star Stadium in Macon, Georgia to begin their three-game road trip. The game is slated to be streamed on ESPN+, and live stats will be available on Stat Broadcast.
Follow along
Fans can keep up with all the live action and news of Sun Devil Lacrosse by following @SunDevilWLax on Instagram and X and Sun Devil Women’s Lacrosse on Facebook.