ASU Lacrosse Heads to Steel City for Clash with Pitt

(Courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics)

Sun Devil Lacrosse (1-0) has a chance to begin the season with two consecutive victories for the second straight year when they travel to Pittsburgh to face the Panthers (1-0) on Wednesday afternoon.

ASU was dominant in the first game of its season-opening roadtrip against defeating Niagara 15-9. The frigid Upstate New York temperatures could not slow down the ASU offense as it was able to score an impressive 15 goals in their meeting with the Purple Eagles.

Junior attacker Jordyn Behar was elite in the facilitation aspect of the game dishing out a career-high six assists and constantly making the right pass to set her teammates up for goals. Of the beneficiaries were junior attackers Lydia Oldknow and Teagan Ng who both had hat tricks. Senior goalkeeper Katie Vahle held it down in between the pipes for the Sun Devils notching 13 saves and keeping the Niagara offense in the single digits, a point of emphasis for ASU on the defensive side of the ball.

Last season ASU and Pitt met in Tempe in a duel that would be won by the Sun Devils, 18-11. ASU started off hot in that one scoring four goals in the first two-and-a-half minutes. The offensive onslaught continued with the Sun Devils finding the back of the net an astounding 11 times in the first half en route to them scoring 18 times in the game overall.

Current senior attacker Anna Thornton had seven points to the tune of four goals and three assists, a truly balanced effort from the leader. This will also be the second consecutive year Vahle will be inside the crease for ASU with the Panthers on the other side of the field. In the prior meeting, Vahle had nine saves and stifled the Pitt offense only allowing 11 goals in the match-up, a good number to hover around against fellow power conference opposition. The presence of Thornton and Vahle will be needed for ASU to leave Pittsburgh with their undefeated start to the season afloat.

The Panthers won their first game of the season in exciting fashion. Pitt needed overtime in its meeting with St. Bonaventure before senior attacker Talia Zucco scored on an 8-meter shot to give them its maiden win of the season. It was an impressive win in which Pitt dug deep in a tough environment to start off its season on a positive note.

Senior attacker Sydney Naylor is the focal point of the attack for Pitt and she was able to beat the St. Bonaventure goalie five times out of her ten shots leading the Panthers in scoring. Naylor will enter the game against ASU with a spectacular 67 total goals in her career up to this point. Fifth-year midfielder Emily Coughlin also added a pair of goals and an assist along with five draw controls. Keeping possession against ASU will be important for Pitt so look for Coughlin to play a large role Wednesday.

For ASU, this is a game it has to win if it wants to compete in the Big 12 and make the NCAA Tournament. Even though Pitt is a power conference opponent, last year it struggled and finished 5-13 (0-9) including the aforementioned loss to last year’s ASU squad which failed to make the tournament.

The Sun Devils cannot afford to sleepwalk through the beginning of the game especially with it starting at 1 p.m. local time, something which will absolutely be a major point of emphasis for head coach Taryn VanThof. A win would put an exclamation point on a successful road trip for ASU and would put them in a great position as they head back to Tempe.

ASU and Pittsburgh will face off Wednesday at 11 a.m AZT on ESPN+