SEATTLE – On Friday night the Sun Devil soccer team did not experience anything that it did not already know. That playing in the Pac-12 Conference – a league which had 10 teams in the top 45 of the NCAA’s RPI at the start of the week – means every game is going to be a battle and the difference between winning and losing often can come down to a play or two. Such was the case on Friday as the No. 19 Sun Devils had their nine-game unbeaten streak (7-0-2) come to an end in a 2-1 setback to Washington.
“It was a very even game. I thought Washington played very well and they were at home so we’d expect that,” said ASU head coach Kevin Boyd. “There were moments when I thought we played well, but I did not think we executed very well in the final third of the field and I thought that was a major issue.
“It was such a close game it could have gone either way and that’s what you expect in these conference games, especially when you are on the road.”
Becca Schoales scored the game-winner for the Huskies (9-4, 2-2 Pac-12) in the 83rd minute. Schoales’ goal came moments after Cali Farquharson, the Pac-12’s leader in goals coming into the week, nearly scored the go-ahead goal for the Sun Devils.
Farquharson outraced a defender to reach a long ball driven by teammate Lucy Lara. She was able to shed the defender, but had just a second to catch up to the ball in an effort to beat Washington goalkeeper Megan Kufeld to it. Kufeld missed the ball with her sliding attempt, but was able to knock Farquharson off balance long enough to allow the Washington defender to recover and prevent Farquharson from scoring. A short time later it was the Huskies who found themselves in the driver’s seat after Schoales’ goal.
“(Washington’s go-ahead goal) came on a hard ball driven across the six that a running player (Schoales) deflected at point-blank range and that is a shot that is really difficult to stop,” explained Boyd.
Coming in with their longest unbeaten streak since 2000, the Sun Devils (8-2-3, 1-1-2 Pac-12) had reason to feel good about their chances of extending it to 10 games after Tommi Goodman’s shot from outside the box snuck under the crossbar in the 12th minute.
The Huskies would answer in the 25th minute when Kate Bennett scored on a shot very similar to Goodman’s that tucked itself just under the far post.
“They were two good shots,” said Boyd of the game’s first two goals. “Tommi hits a one-time shot that goes into the far post ‘upper V’ and then they get one from similar distance into the far post.
“It is hard to defend those. We needed to do a better job in the first half of stepping out and making it more difficult with some perceived pressure and I thought we did that better in the second half. I thought we had more of the ball in the second half and limited their chances very well until the end when they got one into the corner and put it across.”
Farquharson, who assisted on Goodman’s goal, led ASU with three shots while Goodman led ASU with two shots on frame.
Senior goalkeeper Chandler Morris made seven saves for the Sun Devils, who gave up more than one goal for the first time in more than a month, which is also the last time they came up on the short end (at Illinois on Aug. 29).
Boyd said a lack of execution is what contributed most to the loss.
“We did not do a good enough job with our chances," said Boyd. "We didn’t serve the ball into dangerous areas, and when we did, we did not do a good job finishing. These are hard games to win and we need to do a better job in the final third right now than we are doing.”
The Sun Devils will attempt to get a split out of their trip to Washington when they take on No. 21 Washington State on Sunday (1 p.m. PT) in Pullman. The game will be streamed live at http://pac-12.com/videos/washington-state-university.