TEMPE, Ariz. – Despite a 24-6 advantage in shots, the Arizona State women’s soccer team was unable to snap its losing streak which reached four games following a 2-1 setback to Washington State in the Pac-12 Conference opener for both teams.
Unfortunately for the Sun Devils (4-4, 0-1 Pac-12), Sunday’s outcome was not decided by what they did right for more than 80 minutes of the game, but rather a stretch of 5:38 in the early stages of the second half in which they gave up a pair of goals to the Cougars (8-1, 1-0).
“That’s the best we’ve played since (5-0 win over then-No. 14) Pepperdine,” ASU head coach Kevin Boyd said. “I thought for the most part we looked like us. I’m disappointed with the poor energy and poor focus we had to start the second half. There is no reason for that.”
Boyd felt that the difference in the game came down to the Sun Devils’ inability to execute within the most important 36 yards of real estate on the field.
“The main thing I’m looking at is we made too many errors inside our 18 and inside their 18,” Boyd said. “In our 18 we are making errors from being too passive and giving away the ball in dangerous spots. And then in the other 18 we are the opposite: we are rushed and frantic and smashing the ball. I would like to change the mentality from the forwards to the backs and the backs to the forwards. We would be a whole lot better that way.”
In the first half the Sun Devils were the aggressors as they pelted shots in Washington State goalkeeper Ella Dederick’s area early and often. The good news for the Sun Devils after the first 45 minutes was that they had a 15-1 advantage in shots, including an 8-1 advantage in shots on goal. The bad news was that for all the work they put in they went to locker room tied at 0-0.
“We created an awful lot of chances. I thought we played extremely well in the first half with the exception of attacking and finishing once we got inside the 18,” said Boyd.
Washington State’s Kourtney Guetlein, who by day’s end would take over the top spot as the Cougars’ leading scorer, shifted the momentum 180 degrees after scoring her third (48th minute) and fourth (53rd minute) goals of the season to give the Cougars a 2-0 lead.
“We had both balls (that turned into Washington State’s goals) won and then to not find a way to get them out of a dangerous area is disappointing,” Boyd said.
Although they found themselves in a 2-0 hole the Sun Devils refused to give up. Junior Larisa Staub, who led ASU with seven shots on the day, cut ASU’s deficit in half after taking a pass from R-junior midfielder Lucy Lara, dribbling inside the 18 and sending a diagonal shot that tucked just under the post for her second goal of the season.
Later in the second half, senior defender Sara Tosti – via a free kick and corner kick – and Lara – via a free kick – both placed balls in dangerous areas of the field, but in each instance the Devils were unable to find the goal they needed to send the game into overtime.
“We changed our system and started pressing them and woke up a little bit and started creating our chances. We had a couple potential goals and a potential penalty kick and a variety of things that could have happened but didn’t,” Boyd said of Staub’s goal and the team’s ensuing chances.
The Sun Devils were once again without leading scorer Cali Farquharson on Sunday. The senior forward was held back as a precautionary measure for the second straight game after sustaining an injury in the early moments of the second half of ASU’s 3-2 loss at Oklahoma State on Sept. 18.
“There was a chance we could have played her today, but we opted not to,” Boyd said. “We want to get her all the way healed and get her back on.”
The Sun Devils return to action next week when they host No. 8 Stanford on Friday at 7 p.m. and No. 14 Cal on Sunday at 1 p.m. Both games will be streamed live at http://pac-12.com/live/arizona-state-university.
The most successful University athletics programs have a committed community behind them. Help affect change for Sun Devil Soccer by making a donation to their program and Embrace Success.