ASU sizing up marquee matchup against No. 7 Maryland

(Photo: WCSN/ Zina Garcia)

Fresh off of its first Big 12 win in program history, Arizona State Lacrosse (8-4, 1-0 Big 12) welcomes the No. 7 Maryland Terrapins (7-3, 2-1 Big 10) to Tempe for a midday clash Thursday.

In Saturday’s monumental win over the Cincinnati Bearcats, the Sun Devils were led by a pair of significant fives. They got five goals out of junior attacker Teagen Ng and five assists from junior attacker Jordyn Behar. Ng passed the 100-goal mark on her career in the game and Behar became the program leader in assists with an effort that brought her to 46 on the year.

Junior attacker Lydia Oldknow joined her teammate Ng in the 100-goal club when she added her second and final goal of the afternoon. The pair of junior attackers have been vital for ASU this season and the team will go as far as the trio of those two and Behar will take them on the offensive side of the ball.

Defensively, senior goalkeeper Katie Vahle made 14 saves on the day, her sixth game with double-digit saves so far this season. ASU’s defense also forced four more turnovers than Cincinnati and dominated the draws doubling up the Bearcats at the dot, 20-10.

Maryland will enter Tempe as one of the premier squads in the nation. The Terps own a pair of impressive wins over ranked opposition, having defeated both No. 13 James Madison and No. 11 Michigan. Last time out Maryland suffered a heartbreaking one-goal loss to No. 15 Penn in Philadelphia on Monday.

Junior midfielder Kori Edmondson took home her fifth career Big 10 Midfielder of the Week award for Maryland this past week after two impressive performances against Oregon and No. 15 Penn. Over the two-game stretch, she tallied eight goals, 10 draw controls, five ground balls, and caused three turnovers cementing herself as not just one of the best midfielders in her conference, but the nation as a whole.

Maryland has zero of what you would classify as “bad losses” this season. Of its three losses, all have been against opposition ranked inside the top 15. They were bested by No. 6 Syracuse in College Park and fell to No. 4 Northwestern in Evanston in addition to the aforementioned loss to Penn. Their ability to keep their focus against competition of lesser caliber is what has allowed them to climb to such a high ranking.

The Sun Devils and Terps share two common opponents, Denver and St. Joe’s. Maryland fared much better than ASU in those two matchups winning both quite easily, cruising past St. Joe’s 18-7 then took care of business against Denver, 14-10. ASU on the other hand was dominated by Denver, 21-12 before earning a hard-fought victory over St. Joe’s, 13-12.

Obviously, these common opponents do not mean everything but it shows ASU has some work to do against such an elite squad. However, ASU is playing with an inspired level of confidence, and head coach Taryn VanThof will have a chance to grab a trademark win in her coaching career against the No. 7 ranked team in the nation.