Sept. 11, 2010
TEMPE, Ariz. - After being held scoreless for the first 70-plus minutes of the game, the No. 25 Arizona State women's soccer team exploded for four goals in just over 12 minutes on its way to a 4-2 win over the Tennessee Lady Vols during the first day of the Sun Devil Desert Classic.
The Sun Devils (4-0-1) remained unbeaten following their second consecutive game against Southeastern Conference foe after tying 19th-ranked South Carolina last Sunday in Columbia, S.C.
"I saw a lot of things that I really liked tonight and a few things we still need to correct," ASU head coach Kevin Boyd said following the game. "We have more of an an [offensive] attack than we've had since I've been here. We are so much more dangerous and we have multiple players who want to go to goal.
"We struggled in the first half finding the net. We weren't getting clean chances and that's a credit to Tennessee. In the second half we kept creating the same things, but this time we got our shots off in time and we scored two goals off set pieces and two on counter attacks."
Overall, the Sun Devils had a plus-18 advantage (25-7) in shots over Tennessee, including a plus-10 advantage in shots on goal (13-3). ASU's 11-3 advantage in first-half shots was little consolation for the Sun Devils after Tennessee junior forward Emily Dowd scored the first of her two goals on the night to give the Lady Vols a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute.
Unlike last week when they were able to find the equalizer before halftime after falling behind 1-0 at South Carolina, the Sun Devils were not able to respond before the intermission. Over the first 25-plus minutes of the second half the Sun Devils were able to consistently bring the fans out of their seats as they continually threatened to score. ASU's probing shots began to turn precise strikes in the 72nd minute when senior midfielder Alexandra Elston scored her first goal of the season after heading in a free kick from Holland Crook.
Less than a minute later Crook was once again the benefactor to one of her teammates, this time using a corner kick to set up freshman defender Jasmine Roth, who connected for her second goal of the season to put ASU up 2-1.
In the 76th minute redshirt sophomore Sierra Cook found herself open on a counter attack and drilled a shot from 25 yards to put ASU up 3-1.
Senior forward Karin Volpe would conclude ASU's sudden offensive assault a little more than seven minutes later when she struck for her fourth goal of the season to put the game out of reach.
Dowd scored on a set piece in the 85th minute to cut ASU's lead to 4-2, however the Lady Vols were unable to set up any more serious scoring opportunities. Following the game, Boyd singled our sophomore forward Alyssa Freeman as one of the key players who helped jumpstart ASU's attack. Although she did not score, Freeman came off the bench to lead ASU with four shots.
"She had an absolutely terrific game," Boyd said. "She did not score any goals or get an assist, but in the first half she helped change the way we were playing."
The Sun Devils will close out the weekend on Sunday when they host Nebraska at 1:30 p.m. at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium. The Cornhuskers defeated the University of Arizona 3-0 on Friday in the first game of the Sun Devil Desert Classic. Prior to the ASU-Nebraska game on Sunday, Arizona and Tennessee will meet at 11 a.m.