(Photo/ WCSN: Zina Garcia)
Before the Sun Devils face their next opponent in the Big 12 they have only two days to prepare. Head Coach for Sun Devil Lacrosse Taryn VanThof Puls views the game against Maryland, who is ranked No.7 in the nation, as preparation for what’s to come this season.
“This is excellent preparation.” VanThof Puls said. “You run against a top 10 opponent. It’s just as great as having a hard, solid practice. I think we take away a lot from this game in terms of where we can capitalize.”
Sun Devil junior attacker Teagan Ng was once again a major part of the team’s offense. Ng scored five goals in the competition and was the player with the most goals in this game. Maryland junior midfielder Kori Edmondson was behind Ng scoring four goals in the game. A total of three players accomplished hat tricks today, including junior attacker Lydia Oldknow from Arizona State (8-5, 1-0 Big 12). Despite not having the most goals in the game, Oldknow led both teams in shots with 10.
After going into halftime with a score of 9-8 in favor of the Sun Devils, the opposing teams defense stepped up their game and focused on Sun Devil standout Ng.
“They stepped up and put a face guard on Tegan Ng,” VanThof Puls explained.
Using a faceguard is a defensive strategy meant to slow down the attack. The defender, the face guard, marks a specific player tightly to hopefully slow down the attack and minimize the “damage” the player could cause the defense.
This season Ng has stepped up majorly and has been a big factor in the success the team has had thus far. In her third year as a Sun Devil, she has already made herself a career high 48 goals in a single season, while in the two previous seasons where she scored 30 and 27 goals. That career high 48 goals isn’t done yet. ASU still has four games left in the season, as she currently averages 4.36 goals per game it is unlikely she won’t continue to add on some more.
As for the Sun Devils as a whole, the team started their game against Maryland the same way they started their win against Cincinnati. There was a tight back and forth, and both teams’ offenses took off straight away. However, After ASU had a short lived lead in the third quarter, Maryland’s offense ended up simply out matching the Sun Devils. Oldknow scored in the third quarter to make the score 12-9 in, however, Maryland went on to score a staggering nine times uninterrupted.
An defender who stood out was Sun Devil senior defender Berit Brookfield, she had multiple breakaways and opportunities to get the ball up the field for her team. Brookfield explained how at the start of this season, she wasn’t actually a defender.
“I actually started the season out as a true midfielder.” Brookfield said. “The coaches felt that for the sake of the team they needed to give me two defensive roles. So I’m here for the success of the team and i’m looking to step in wherever I can help.”
Being a true midfielder means she used to be on both sides of the ball. Brookfield was able to use her skills from her true midfielder days to assist the Sun Devil offense in getting the ball into Maryland’s defensive zones. Her breakaways showed off her footwork and speed as she zipped past Maryland players.
Also like previous games, this game seemed to be more physical than how the Sun Devils normally played in the past. VanThof Puls has noted before that the tighter the competition the more aggressive the players get. Despite this game not being tight the entire time, the teams were both receiving multiple cards throughout the game. Like most sporting events fans from Maryland and ASU were calling out for more fouls and cards than the referees gave out. The fans, like the teams, were very passionate.
The Sun Devils will now use their previously mentioned two days between games to prepare for Big 12 opponent Colorado (5-5, 1-0). Brookfield also explained how the two day break wasn’t a gigantic change for the team.
“We typically start two days prior with our scouting and everything.” Brookfield explained. “We were on the road so much in the beginning of the season, and that was our routine. And we’ve had a ton of success with it.”
As the teams met they both come with 1-0 records in conference games. This will be the second conference game in a row for Colorado, previously beating the University of San Diego. Both teams are new to the Big 12, as they both left the Pac-12 in 2024. This will be the teams 12th time meeting. The Sun Devils have a losing record, winning three games and losing eight. They are also on a losing streak to Colorado as they haven’t won since 2022 and have played each other at least once every season.
