(Tempe, AZ) Arizona State lacrosse (1-0) was blazing hot in their season-opener against Xavier (0-1) on Friday afternoon, defeating the Musketeers 21-10 behind a 48-18 shot differential in favor of ASU. The team’s 21 goals were the most since the Sun Devils put up 21 against California on March 20, 2022, and the most under head coach Taryn VanThof.
VanThof noted, “What a great team win to start the 2024 season! It was fun to see our offense share the wealth and firing on all cylinders!”
“Mina stepped up on the draw circle to provide us with multiple possessions,” praised Van Thof, after her senior attacker recorded seven of the team’s 20 draw controls.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After Xavier jumped out to a 2-1 lead early on, Teagan Ng and Shannon Urey added two goals allowing ASU to take the lead and never look back. In the first quarter, the Sun Devils outshot the Musketeers 15-4, and scored on seven of those attempts to lead 7-4 after the first quarter.
Xavier picked up a goal in the first 50 seconds of the second quarter, but Mina Scott scored with 11:11 remaining to stop any potential attack. Both Lydia Oldknow and Anna Thorntonearned hat tricks by the end of the second period after picking up goals before halftime. The Sun Devil lead was eight when the second quarter buzzers sounded.
Shannon Urey found the back of the net twice within the first five minutes of the second half for her third and fourth goals of the game. Oldknow stayed hot and spun around two Musketeers and rifled a goal past the goalkeeper to extend the lead to 17-6 at the 3:53 mark. The Musketeers and Sun Devils each scored in the last minute and a half to make the score 18-7, and Katie Vahle’s work was done after the third quarter.
Both Flynn Murphy and Sara Flobeck split time in goal in the fourth quarter, and allowed the only successful free position attempt of the day to Xavier in that final frame. The visitors went 1-4 on free position attempts today.
NOTABLES
The Sun Devils earned their first non-conference win since the 16-13 defeat of St. Bonaventure on February 18, 2023.
With 48 shots today, ASU took 40+ shots for the first time since May 4, 2022, when the team recorded 43 against California.
Graduate Shannon Urey was the first five-goal scorer for ASU since sophomore Teagan Ngnetted five against UC Davis on April 23, 2023.
Freshman attacker Emma Heenan scored her first collegiate goal against the Musketeers.
ASU improves to 5-0 all-time in home openers, outscoring opponents by a score of 94-42.
Anna Thornton, Lydia Oldknow, and Shannon Urey all finished with 4+ goals
UP NEXT
ASU takes on Niagara on Sunday, February 9th at 9:30 a.m. MST back at Sun Devil Soccer/Lacrosse Stadium. The game will be available for fans to view via the ASU Live Stream-2, or fans can purchase tickets here.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Lucas Castilleja
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