Katie Vahle Marks her name in ASU Lacrosse History

(Photo: Zina Garcia/ WCSN)

Although Arizona State lacrosse (8-6, 1-1 Big 12) suffered a gritty loss to conference rivals in Colorado (6-5, 2-0) with the final score of 13-14, senior goalkeeper Katie Vahle stood on her head in the second half, adding more tallies to her historic career at ASU.

After claiming the top spot on the list for all-time program saves in the Sun Devils’ overtime loss against Marquette in March, Vahle reached another milestone Sunday when she marked her 600th career save against Colorado. This feat makes Vahle one of three active D1 lacrosse goalies with more than 600 saves with her performance against CU bringing her to a total of 614 in her career.

On Tuesday, Vahle received Big 12 accolades receiving Goaltender of the Week after she helped lead ASU to their first conference victory in program history.

While Vahle’s dominance does not go unnoticed in the Big 12, where she leads the Big 12 in saves, she is also third in the NCAA for saves.

While Vahle shows tremendous talent between the pipes, her and the Sun Devils would be tested in their second Big 12 conference game in program history.

Aming to start 2-0 in conference play, the Sun Devils faced a rocky start to their contest against Colorado. The offense and defense struggled in the first half with Vahle allowing 11 goals in the first 30 minutes played.

After halftime though, Vahle told a different story.

After taking a few shots from head coach Taryn VanThof Puls herself before the first draw of the half, Vahle only allowed the Buffaloes to find the back of the net three times in the third and fourth quarters combined.

Big saves came from Vahle, especially in the third quarter, when she was able to shut down an on-fire Buffalo offense to help assist a late comeback for the Sun Devils, where their offense was able to net four goals, going into the last 15 in just a two goal deficit.

While this battle to the end resulted in a loss for ASU the netminder Vahle was key to their late success.

While ASU was out shot 27-16, Vahle made 12 saves with a save percentage of .481 compared to CU’s goalkeeper Elena Oh who had three shots saved and a .188 save percentage.

While coach VanThof Puls believes that the Sun Devils were “giving up to many in the first [half],” she thought that Vahle was solid.

“Katie was solid today. She saw a lot of the shots she needed to see,” said VanThof Puls.

What sets Vahle apart is her willingness to take accountability and improve.

“Katie is willing to work on the craft, and I think this past week she stepped to recognize where she needed to work, and I think it paid off,” said VanThof Puls.

Big 12 conference play paints the rest of the regular season for ASU, where Vahle will truly be able to showcase why she is a top goaltender in the conference against fierce Big 12 opponents.

Vahle has had an impressive four-season career at Arizona State and still has the ability to make her mark on the program for the rest of her senior campaign.