(Tempe, AZ) In her first game as head coach, Taryn VanThof guided Arizona State women’s lacrosse to a resounding 16-13 victory over St. Bonaventure at Sun Devil Lacrosse Stadium Saturday. The night featured hat tricks from graduate captain Kaylon Buckner, freshman Teagan Ng and sophomore Berit Brookfield.
“We’ve been talking about family and energy, and that was exactly what tonight was about,” VanThof said smiling. “We played as a unit with emotion and energy, it showed on the field.”
After jumping out to an early 5-1 lead, the Sun Devils’ margin never fell below two despite multiple four-goal runs by the Bonnies. Two sophomores found the back of the net in the fourth quarter, as McKenna Riley and Alexa Ford both earned their first career goal in Maroon and Gold. Leading 16-8 halfway through the fourth quarter, the Sun Devils were able to give several young players valuable experience in the closing minutes.
ASU led most statistical categories of the night, including shots, assists, ground balls, draws, and caused turnovers.
NOTABLES:
Arizona State goes 6-0 in home openers
Three Sun Devils had hat tricks tonight, as Kaylon Buckner, Berit Brookfield, and Teagan Ng all found the back of the net three times.
Highlighted by their young talent, nine of ASU’s 16 goals were scored by freshmen and sophomores.
Anna Winkeler, Lydia Oldknow and Annie Haley each had two assists, totaling six for ASU compared to St. Bonaventure’s two.
ASU was able to keep possession by collecting 12 ground balls to the Bonnies’ five.
Almost doubling St. Bonaventure’s shots, ASU led the category 30-17.
FIRST QUARTER:
The Sun Devils had a lot of offense in the first quarter, putting up three goals in the opening three minutes. After Kaylon Buckner broke the ice, Freshman Teagan Ng showed off her talents and found the back of the net twice en route to a 6-2 ASU lead going into the second.
SECOND QUARTER:
The scoring evened out in the second half after the Sun Devils took a short-lived 8-2 lead. After a four-goal run by St. Bonaventure, Mina Scott and Kaylon Buckner added two more for ASU to go into the break up 10-6.
THIRD QUARTER:
St. Bonaventure brought the lead within three, Sun Devil Katie Brodsky took over to score two goals in the span of a minute, followed up by Berit Brookfield’s third goal of the night. Teagan Ng became the third Sun Devil to record a hat trick with 1:28 left in the quarter. ASU went into the fourth quarter up 14-8 after letting up a goal with 0.5 seconds left in the third.
FOURTH QUARTER:
The fourth quarter saw two sophomores celebrate their first goals for ASU as McKenna Riley and Alexa Ford both scored to bring the Sun Devils’ lead to 16-8 with under ten to go. St. Bonaventure took advantage of the closing minutes with five goals to bring the final result within three.
UP NEXT:
The Sun Devils get ready to hit a month-long road trip as they circle the east coast, facing Penn State, Towson, Jacksonville, and Florida in the upcoming weeks. They will then begin Pac-12 play at USC before returning to Tempe to host Oregon on March 24.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Preston Fekkes, Media Relations Intern
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