ASU Lacrosse made history for the program Saturday, playing in and winning their first-ever Big 12 conference game.
The Sun Devils came into the game with a 7-4 record, losing their last two games to Dartmouth and Marquette. The game against Cincinnati was a chance to bounce back going into conference play.
With the Sun Devil faithful in attendance cheering them on, players such as junior attacker Teagan Ng, junior attacker Jordyn Behar and senior attacker Anna Thornton led the scoring for the Sun Devils. Thornton, who finished with a hat trick, spoke on the new competition ASU gets to play this season.
"Honestly, I think it's really cool to step into a completely different thing," Thornton said. "The Pac-12 was awesome, but it's exciting to see new competition for this year."
The first quarter saw the Sun Devils come out fast, as they took a 2-0 lead just one minute and 33 seconds into the game. Cincinnati responded, but Behar's second score of the quarter gave ASU a 3-1 lead.
The second quarter was a completely different story. Cincinnati dominated the quarter, which saw many turnovers from the Sun Devils in the offensive zone. The Bearcats were able to put up four goals, while ASU was unable to score one going into halftime.
The third quarter was an explosion of goals for both sides. There were eight goals scored in the first half, but there were 10 scored in the third quarter alone. The goals were evenly divided into five each, giving the Bearcats a 10-8 lead going into the fourth.
In the final quarter, it became apparent that ASU wanted it more. The Sun Devils came out hot, scoring the first four goals of the quarter. Ng, the game's leading goalscorer for the Sun Devils, was held scoreless in the first half. She ended with five goals, three of them in the fourth, including the 100th goal of her career.
Even with Ng's impressive second half, the star of the show for ASU was a familiar face, Behar. She ended with a hat trick and added five assists to her tally. Those five assists give her 46 on the season, giving her one of the top assist counts in the NCAA.
The six-goal fourth quarter for the Sun Devils propelled them to the win 14-12. Head Coach Taryn VanThof Puls was proud of the way her team came out in the fourth quarter.
"We talked a lot this week," VanThof Puls said. "And that was a moment where we had to not talk, but do and deliver and capitalize on moments. And I think people took that to heart, to then step up in moments and capitalize."
The Sun Devil who has been getting a lot of attention this past week is senior goalkeeper Katie Vahle, after she became the all-time saves leader in program history following the game against Marquette.
She had 14 saves on the day, topping her total from Marquette and helping her push toward the most saves in the NCAA. She said that she believes she's getting back to where she wants to be.
"I've been on the low," Vahle said. "So I'm slowly on the up. So it was just play my best, do what I can, help my team out, and just end with a W."
It's only the beginning for Sun Devil Lacrosse in the Big 12. They still have teams to play, like "rival" Colorado and the fifth-ranked team in the country, Florida.
VanThof Puls is not worried about those teams right now, she is worried about what is right in front of her.
"We're going to see some great competition from the rest of the Big 12," VanThof Puls said. "That's the beauty of entering this conference and being power four. I think, taking it game by game and not looking ahead to any opponent, but truly taking it practice by practice and game by game."
Edited by Henry Smardo, Sophia Braccio and Alysa Horton.
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Niall is a junior studying sports journalism. This is his first semester with The State Press. He has also worked at WCSN and Blaze Radio.
