TEMPE, Ariz. – Redshirt junior midfielder Mackenzie Semerad scored her first goal as a Sun Devil in the 88th minute to lead the Sun Devil soccer team to a 2-1 upset win over No. 6 Texas A&M on Sunday.
Combined with its 2-0 win over Oklahoma State on Sunday, ASU (4-1-1) captured the Sun Devil Classic title by virtue of winning both of its contests. Also participating in this weekend’s SDC was Arizona, which went 1-0-1 (tied Texas A&M 2-2 on Friday and defeated Oklahoma State 3-1 on Sunday).
For head coach Kevin Boyd and the Sun Devils, the win over Texas A&M represented the program’s second in as many seasons against a Top 10 team. Last season the Sun Devils stunned the nation when they upset then-second-ranked Stanford, 1-0. The win snapped Stanford’s 73-game unbeaten streak at home and its 44-game winning streak in conference matches.
On Sunday, the Sun Devils called upon many attributes – heart, character, resilience, to name a few – to upset a Texas A&M squad, which, in addition to its No. 6 national ranking, also came into Sunday’s contest unbeaten.
“I couldn’t be happier right now. This win tells us we’re playing well and that we’re doing very well for where we are in the season,” said Boyd. “Since last Friday when we lost to Illinois, we identified three areas we wanted to be very good in, and we’ve done well in those areas. And we’ve started adding to that, which is what’s leading to us winning.”
Two days earlier, the Sun Devils put together one of their best performances to date in a 2-0 shutout of Oklahoma State. Unfortunately the momentum that sparked a pair of second-half goals and a relentless defensive effort in Friday’s win did not carry over into the early part of Sunday’s game. It took Texas A&M (4-1-1) a little more than three minutes to score the game’s first goal as Aggie senior forward Kelley Monogue knocked in her team-leading sixth goal of the season to give her team the early advantage.
The Aggies continued to look sharp as five more shots and a corner kick would follow their first goal. Boyd went to his bench midway through the first half as Rachel Ometer, Jazmarie Mader, Whitney Kanavel and Tommi Gooman entered the game. The Sun Devils would soon start to settle down as they started creating more opportunities on the offensive end while limiting the Aggies’ effectiveness.
“Texas A&M was all over us in the first 10 minutes,” said Boyd. “They got one goal and could’ve had a couple. It evened out after we responded in the 12th minute. Then we subbed in some players and we started playing very well. The players that came off the bench really changed us for the better.”
Two of those players – Ometer and Goodman – would team up to help the Sun Devils tie the game in the 41st minute. Ometer went up and headed in a corner kick that was perfectly placed by Goodman in front of the Aggies goal. Suddenly, it was a brand new game as the teams went to the half.
“We went into halftime feeling that the game was going to be ours,” said Boyd. “We were very focused on dominating the second half.”
The Sun Devils would in fact dominate the second half as they outshot Texas A&M 12-7 over the last 45 minutes. The bad news for ASU is that only one of their first 11 shots was on frame. The Aggies, meanwhile, were also unable to create any dangerous opportunities with their shots as none of their second-half shots were on goal. However it was the shots that Texas A&M never took that caused the most perilous moments of the second half for ASU. On a few instances the Aggies were within point-blank range of ASU’s net, but were either stymied in a scrum or by the Devils finding a way to clear the ball out of the area.
As the game wore on the Sun Devils seemed to be getting closer and closer to finding the go-ahead goal. Finally, the pressure they continued to apply would pay off in the 88th minute. After numerous attempts just missed their mark, ASU would take the lead when freshman forward Jessica Raybe sent a pass across the field to Semerad, who let the ball bounce once before sending her near side shot into the upper far post, just above the reach of Aggie GK Renee McDermott.
For Semerad, who transferred to ASU from East Carolina in 2013, her first goal as a Sun Devil could not have come at a more opportune time.
“In any situation like that, where you’re close to the goal and the ball is bouncing right in front of it, you have to stay composed,” said Semerad, who also has two assists this season. “In those seconds before I hit it, I just told myself ‘Stay calm and keep your eye on the ball.’ I kept my composure and found the back of the net on the far post.
“For a first goal, it was awesome – pure excitement, pure happiness – especially with it being in the last few minutes. It was huge and I’m very happy about that.”
The two teams combined for 34 shots with the Sun Devils recording a slight 18-16 edge over the Aggies. Boyd said prior to Sunday’s game that Texas A&M was a well-organized squad and with that he knew they would have their moments. For ASU, it was a matter of making sure those Aggie moments did not turn into game-changers because of organizational mistakes on the defensive end.
“A team like that, you’re going to have a hard time preventing them from getting any chances at all,” said Boyd. “You just have to minimize the chances that they do get… I thought we did a great job of marking players in the box. When the ball was coming in we were tight. I thought all the chances we were giving up were very difficult for them to score.”
The Sun Devils were able to turn back the Aggies’ attack despite missing their top defender, McKenzie Berryhill for the second straight game. Her status remains on a game-to-game basis. One of the players who helped pick up the slack in Berryhill’s absence was sophomore Mckenzie Grossman, who started both games this weekend on ASU’s back line.
For coming through with a pair of clutch performances, Grossman was named to the Sun Devil Classic All-Tournament Team along with Semerad and Aly Moon, who was named the Sun Devil Classic MVP. Moon scored her team-leading fifth goal in Friday’s win over Oklahoma State. Although she did not account for any points on Sunday, Moon took five shots, led the team in shots on goal (2) and was a constant distraction for the Aggies on the defensive end throughout the afternoon.
The Sun Devils return to action next week when they travel to Tucson for the Cats Classic being hosted by the University of Arizona. The Sun Devils will open play on Friday when they take on New Mexico State at 4:30 p.m. before closing out the weekend on Sunday against Nevada at noon.
2014 Sun Devil Classic All-Tournament Team
Mckenzie Grossman (ASU)
Aly Moon (ASU) - MVP
Mackenzie Semerad (ASU)
Mykaylin Rosenquist (Arizona)
Sheaffer Skadsen (Arizona)
Gabi Stoian (Arizona)
Allie Bailey (Texas A&M)
Bianca Brinson (Texas A&M)
Kelley Monogue (Texas A&M)
Kelsey Bass (Oklahoma State)
Natalie Calhoun (Oklahoma State)
Courtney Dike (Oklahoma State)