TEMPE- Ariz. – Cali Farquharson scored her team-leading ninth goal of the season and the No. 24 Sun Devil soccer team nearly pulled off the biggest upset in school history before settling for a 1-1 tie with top-ranked UCLA on Friday.
A little less than a year after going on the road and shocking No. 2 Stanford to end the Cardinal’s 73-game home unbeaten streak and its 44-game conference winning streak, the Sun Devils nearly became streak busters again on Friday as the Bruins came in with a 30-game unbeaten streak.
Although they were pleased that they did not blink in going toe-to-toe with the defending national champions, the Sun Devils found themselves a bit disappointed that they were not able to come away with the win.
“I really liked that we are bummed that we did not play better and get the win,” said ASU head coach Kevin Boyd. “We played fine until we scored a goal. I spent most of the game trying to get us back on track and we never did quite find it.”
The Sun Devils (7-1-2, 0-0-1 Pac-12) nearly claimed the lead in the first half after Bruins goalkeeper Katelyn Rowland came off her line to play a ball and had her pocket picked by Aly Moon. The 5-1 Moon, who challenged the 5-11 Rowland for balls several times in the game, immediately passed to Tommi Goodman, whose shot from 25 yards toward the unguarded UCLA goal was knocked away at the last second by Bruin defender Abby Dahlkemper.
The Sun Devils would go up on the Bruins (8-0-2, 0-0-1) in the 49th minute when Farquharson got free on a breakaway after being played in by Moon. Farquharson found herself in a one-on-one battle with Rowland, who earlier this season broke her own school record for consecutive shutout minutes (638). One quick move by Farquharson allowed her to evade Rowland, who came off her line and made a sliding attempt to keep Farquharson from getting off a shot. With nothing but an empty net in front of her, Farquharson tapped the ball into the net for the goal.
Chandler Morris, who made 11 saves for the Sun Devils, came through with a tremendous effort as she faced several pressure-packed situations in the match.
The Bruins would end up tying the game in the 67th minute when Rosie White knocked in a rebound after Morris slid while saving a header by Kodi Lavrusky.
Although Boyd was glad that his team was in the lead after Farquharson’s goal, he felt the Sun Devils got a little bit too comfortable after gaining the advantage, which ended up playing into the hands of the Bruins.
“I think (Cali’s goal) changed the game almost negatively,” said Boyd. “It is crazy to say but what I mean is I do not think we handled it (being in the lead) well. We were excited that we were ahead and let that get to us. We should have not let that affect us.”
Added Farquharson, who tallied at least one goal in her fourth straight game, “They had a lot of chances and they were coming at us really strong. I would agree we became less aggressive after the goal.”
Despite the goal, Boyd gave a lot of credit to ASU’s defense, which was constantly hounding UCLA’s attackers throughout the day and refused to give the Bruins any easy scoring chances.
“We defended with a lot of energy and heart and made it hard in every instance,” said Boyd. “They had their chances but we made it tough for them to do anything.”
The Sun Devils return to action next week when they host Oregon (Friday at 7 p.m.) and Oregon State (Sunday at 1 p.m.) at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium.