ASU lacrosse saw a familiar face on Sunday as they took on longtime Pac-12 opponent University of Colorado Boulder, but this time, both teams are now in the Big 12.
Colorado, ranked No. 22, continued their winning ways after beating San Diego State, defeating the Sun Devils 14-13. ASU now looks to overcome a two-game losing streak, after falling to Maryland earlier in the week.
The story of defeat for the Sun Devils throughout the course of the game was the turnovers and errors on both sides of the ball. They finished with 16 turnovers to Colorado's 9, allowing the Buffaloes to have possession of the ball in ASU's zone more frequently.
Head Coach Taryn VanThof Puls said her team needs to not do too much with the ball in these games.
"Keeping it simple," VanThof Puls said. "Protecting the ball when you need to protect the ball, make the next pass when you need to make the next pass and don't just pump it into the middle."
The first quarter saw most of the scoring take place. Colorado was able to get off to a huge lead early, being up 5-1 after roughly the first 10 minutes of the match-up. That lone goal was scored by ASU junior attacker Teagan Ng.
Following an ASU timeout with about six and half minutes to go in the first quarter, the Sun Devils outscored the Buffaloes 4-2, including Ng's second goal of the game and her 50th on the season. The quarter ended with Colorado up 7-5.
The second quarter was similar to the first for both sides. Turnovers and fouls from the Sun Devils allowed Colorado to get their offense set up and score four goals in the quarter. ASU was able to get two goals back, thanks to senior attacker Anna Thornton and junior attacker Jordyn Behar.
VanThof Puls said she wanted more from her players in the first and wanted it to translate into the second half.
"For them in the first half, we were there, but we weren't present," VanThof Puls said. "And so we said, 'Be a defensive presence, be a defensive threat.' And I think that messaging right then let us ignite a little bit from the defensive end."
Ignited they were as the Sun Devils improved drastically defensively starting in the third quarter. They held Colorado to two goals in the quarter and began to use the ignition on the defensive end to explode offensively.
Junior attacker Lydia Oldknow scored two in the quarter, Ng had her third of the game and redshirt freshman attacker Addie Shevitz had her second of the game.
Behar was responsible for two of the assists from this quarter, growing her total to 51 on the season. The New York native already set the single-season assist record in ASU's game versus Cincinnati. She continues her stellar season by leading the NCAA in assists.
Behar believes that even with her personal accolades and the success of the team, more work needs to be done.
"Just practicing," Behar said. "Being harder, working harder, being tougher with each other, holding each other accountable."
The fourth quarter saw a hungry Sun Devil team looking to come back and bring this game to overtime. The Buffaloes came out and scored the opening goal to the quarter, but Ng began to take over, scoring her fourth and fifth goals of the game, bringing the Sun Devils to within one.
ASU had the ball with a little over a minute left and controlled it in Colorado's zone. Oldknow had a shot on goal, but it was saved by Colorado and sealed their victory versus the Sun Devils. It was a tale of two halves. Colorado's first was just a little better than the second from the Sun Devils.
VanThof Puls believes a better first would be a large improvement for her team.
"Moving forward, making sure we're executing (the) game plan from the first whistle is going to be huge for us," VanThof Puls said.
Edited by Henry Smardo, Abigail Beck and Natalia Jarrett.
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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.
