Sun Devils dominate host Buffs in Big 12 Championship semifinal

Colorado women's lacrosse saw its season end in the rain on Thursday at the hands of Arizona State. (Photo by Ryan Asaro/Sko Buffs Sports)

The Colorado Buffaloes women’s lacrosse team (8-8, 4-1 Big-12) faced the Arizona State Sun Devils (11-7, 4-1 Big-12) in the semifinals of the inaugural Big 12 Lacrosse Championship at Prentup Field on Thursday. It was a rigorous offensive battle for both sides, but the Sun Devils prevailed over the host Buffs, 18-12.

Both offenses were on fire to start the first half. The Buffs came in hot with graduate attacker Madeline Pisani striking first. Junior attacker Teagan Ng put the first goal past Buffs goaltender Elena Oh three minutes later. Senior attacker Anna Thornton gave the Sun Devils their first lead shortly after. Pisani struck once again for Colorado to tie the game at two.

ASU’s defense proved to be a huge challenge toward the end of the first quarter, as goaltender Katie Vahle only saw one shot. The final minute was all Sun Devils with Jordyn Behar and Bella Ingrao extending the lead to two.

The second quarter saw more early action from the Sun Devils as Ingrao scored her second of the match. Pisani completed her seventh hat trick of the season unassisted. After going on a man-up, ASU’s Lydia Oldkanow put her first goal past Elena Oh.

Graduate attacker Kendall Havil broke the Buffs’ ten-minute scoring drought in the final 90 seconds of the half. Pisani put up her fourth goal of the game in the final 30 seconds, cutting ASU’s lead to one at halftime.

Danielle Heintz replaced Oh in the Buffs’ net to start the second half. The third quarter was an offensive showdown as ASU’s offense arrived with a bang. Behar scored her third goal, followed closely by Oldkanow’s second. Havil quickly struck back for the Buffs, narrowing the Sun Devils’ lead to two. Izzy Hammond and Thornton put up two unanswered goals for ASU shortly after.

The Buffaloes kept pace with ASU in the first half but let the Sun Devils pull away in the second. (Ryan Asaro/Sko Buffs Sports)

Buffs attacker Maddie Shoup tried to spark a rally, scoring her first goal nine minutes into the half. It was back-and-forth between Ng and Shoup before ASU responded with two more unanswered goals in the final minute.

With Shoup at the helm, the Buffs’ offense threatened Vahle early in the fourth quarter. After five minutes without any scoring, ASU scored back-to-back-to-back-to-back unanswered goals. Caity Brower replaced Heintz in the Buffs’ net after allowing four straight scores.

Junior midfielder Lily Assini broke the silence for Colorado, scoring three unanswered goals. This marked Assini’s third hat trick of the season. Sophomore attacker Teagan Ryan narrowed the gap to five at the two-minute mark, but ASU’s dominant second-half performance was too much for Colorado to answer.

“The story of this team is resilience,” head coach Ann Elliot Whidden said post-game. “Every time we gained some momentum, something we [couldn’t] control occurred, and I think they bounced back in every single way.”

Colorado’s season came to an end after this tough semifinal loss on its home field. The Sun Devils advance to face the No. 5-ranked Florida Gators in the championship match on Saturday at 1 p.m. MT (ESPN+).