(Photo: Courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics)
TEMPE— After being held goalless last week against the University of Southern California, junior attacker Lydia Oldknow found the back of the net four times Saturday against St. Joseph University.
Oldknow, who had 14 goals before the contest against the St. Joseph Hawks, added four more to her season tally in the Sun Devils’ close matchup, which ended in a narrow win for ASU with the final score of 13-12.
In the first four games of the season, Oldknow added at least three goals to the Sun Devil’s score. In two of the four, she scored four.
That was until ASU took on USC.
USC held Oldknow to only one shot on goal, leaving her out of the goal column. While she was goalless, she was not pointless. She added two assists to the scoresheet.
The game against the Trojans was the first time Oldknow was left goalless in a match since her freshman season with ASU against, coincidentally, USC. The St. Joseph Hawks were the target of her revenge.
Oldknow scored the first goal of her revenge tour in the first quarter and finished the hat-trick before halftime in the second, scoring two more. Her last came in the 3rd quarter, adding insult to injury and helping the Sun Devils stay on top of the Hawks’ come-back attempt.
“Yeah, you know Lydia has been a consistent force for us. I think she took USC personally, and her shooting came out fine-tuned,” Head Coach Taryn VanThof Puls said, “They are learning in every moment, and that is all you can ask.”
Going into this season, it was suspected that Oldknow would step-up this year, in the place of a graduated Mina Scott, and has she made her impact known.
While Oldknow led the team in goals last season with 48, Scott was right behind her with 47 and led the team in assists (21) and total points (68).
Her 48 goals last season was enough to place her ad third most goals scored in a single season in program history. Along with her goals record, her 67 points from last season have her sitting 5th all time in points scored in a single season, right Scott with 68.
While a sophomore, she scored goals in every game last season, and there were 10 games where she scored a hat trick.
Currently, Oldknow is second on the team in goals and assists 19 and six, and tied for second in total points with 24.
While Oldknow is an obvious and crucial part of this Sun Devil offense. Another junior attacker is also stepping up offensively.
Teagan Ng leads Sun Devil lacrosse in scoring this season with 21 goals in the six contests so far and found the back of the net twice against St. Joseph. Ng is fourth in assists this season so far with three, but is tied with Oldknow in points with 24.
Last season Ng had only 27 goals and started in all 19 matchups. As a freshman, she led all rookies in the Pac-12 in goals and ended her first year as a Sun Devil with 30 goals and 36 total points.
