Nov. 9, 2008
PULLMAN, Wash. - For the second time in as many games the Arizona State women's soccer team fought hard only to lose in overtime. Washington State junior Elysse Van Leer tapped in a rebound in the third minute of the second overtime to give the No. 24 Cougars a 1-0 win over ASU on Sunday. With the win the Cougars improved to 10-5-5 (4-3-2 Pac-10) while the Sun Devils dropped to 8-8-4 (2-6-1 Pac-10).
The two teams combined for 26 shots - WSU 15 and ASU 11 - during the first 90 minutes of play, however neither team was able to get on the scoreboard. In addition to battling one another on Sunday, both teams also had to contend with foggy conditions, which prevailed for much of the contest.
"There were points in the game where you could not really see from one end to the other," explained ASU head coach Kevin Boyd. "Overall I thought the game was fairly even. We played hard and I thought the team gave it their best out there."
Van Leer's game winning goal came immediately after Sun Devil goalkeeper Briana Silvestri made a save on a shot taken by Cougar forward Kiersten Dallstream. With the ball still in play near the goal line, Van Leer was able to beat a Sun Devil defender to the ball and win the game.
Sophomores Jill Shoquist and Karin Volpe tied for the team lead in shots with three each while Silvestri made eight saves.
Sunday's loss brings an end to the regular season for the Sun Devils, who managed a .500 overall record despite several injuries, which depleted their depth throughout the season.
"This has been a very challenging year for us with injuries, which contributed to lack of depth on a team that was very young to begin with," said Boyd. "With all that we still had a fighting chance to make it into the playoffs at the end of the season, which is remarkable. I thought we showed a lot of character in a situation where a lot of other teams might have folded long before."