TEMPE – The Arizona State women's soccer team dropped its season finale, falling to Arizona 1-0 at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium on Friday.
For the Sun Devils (6-11-2, 1-9-1 Pac-12), Friday's game played out just like the majority of its games throughout the Pac-12 portion of its schedule: The team's will to battle was just enough to keep it in games, but in the end an injury-riddled front line was not able to match any offense produced by the opposition.
For the fifth straight game the Sun Devils were without Jazmarie Mader (tied first in the Pac-12 in average goals per game) and Aly Moon (team's active career leader in both goals and points). Moon (eight games) and Mader (seven games) would combine to miss 15 games this season. The last time the two were on the same field together was in ASU's Pac-12 opener at UCLA (Sept. 22).
"I think we got massively derailed when we lost Jaz and Aly. That piece right there is the biggest one," ASU head coach Kevin Boyd said. "Today's game, we played hard. It's the same script over and over. We play hard and we play well. We create the best chances and we lose the game because we don't score on any of those chances. And then we give up what I would call a soft goal again and that has ailed us all year long where we play well, we don't give away much, and we give up soft goal, whether it is on a set piece or an error or whatever happens. And then we create chances and ust don't put it away. Looking at that game, who had the best chances? Again, it was us and we didn't score a goal. You're not going to win any games if you don't score goals. Should we have? Absolutely. Were there a couple of players on our bench that could have put it away? Yes. We've known that but we just didn't find a way with what we've had to put it in."
The game's only goal was scored by Arizona's Samantha Falasco, who found the back of the net on a header off a corner kick in the 65th minute. The goal represented another common theme in the seven-game losing streak the Sun Devils had to close out the season: Six times in the seven losses the opposition scored the game-winning goal after the 50th minute of play.
An equally tough pill for the Sun Devils to swallow was that Arizona's goal followed a first half in which the Sun Devils created two of the game's most dangerous scoring chances, but came away empty-handed.
The first of those opportunities came in the 31st minute when Natalie Stephens poked a pass in between two Wildcats and connected with Jessica Raybe who received the pass and immediately took a shot 10 yards from goal. Raybe would have her shot denied by Arizona goalkeeper Lainey Burdett, who came off her line and slid towards Raybe to deflect the ball out of harm's way.
ASU nearly broke the stalemate again in the 42nd minute when Lucy Lara's free kick from 35 yards out just missed its intended target and bounced off the post.
The Wildcats (9-9-1, 4-7) accounted for all the attacking statistics in the first 20 minutes of the second half as they set up a pair of corner kicks and took a pair of shots. The second of those corner kicks set up Falasco's goal.
Down but not out, the Sun Devils did not give up in their quest to find the equalizer. In the 69th minute Mckenzie Grossman slid and got her foot on a ball inside the box that went just to the left of the goal.
In the 86th minute a corner kick by Lara gave the Sun Devils two more attempts to find the back of the net. Once again the Sun Devils were denied as Grossman's header was blocked and Devyn Kelsey's rebound went high.
ASU would get one last shot in the final 10 seconds as Lara sent a corner kick into the box. Melinda Gutierrez went up in the scrum and got her head on the ball, but her shot was knocked away and the game ended with the Sun Devils coming up on the short end of the Territorial Cup Series game for the first time since 2013.
ASU ended the game with a 12-11 edge in overall shots. Both Raybe and Olivia Hernandez tied for the team lead with two shots on goal. Goalkeeper Megan Delaney made five saves for the Sun Devils. Delaney was one of five Sun Devils who played all 90 minutes on Friday, joining Grossman, Madison Stark, Devyn Kelsey and Lara. Kelsey ended the season as the only Sun Devil to start all 19 games for the season.
Friday's game was the final in the careers of Sun Devil seniors Grossman, Lara, Ashley March, Larisa Staub and Annie Warren.
"I felt like our seniors, and our three captains (Grossman, Lara and junior Madison Stark) especially, gave us some of the best leadership we've ever had," Boyd said. "I really liked what (Mckenzie Grossman) was doing, as she was spearheading that. Lucy's overall five years…the growth that she has shown in her game and as a person is outstanding and it's truly a pleasure to be a part of. I'm always going to be very, very proud of her."
For the Sun Devils (6-11-2, 1-9-1 Pac-12), Friday's game played out just like the majority of its games throughout the Pac-12 portion of its schedule: The team's will to battle was just enough to keep it in games, but in the end an injury-riddled front line was not able to match any offense produced by the opposition.
For the fifth straight game the Sun Devils were without Jazmarie Mader (tied first in the Pac-12 in average goals per game) and Aly Moon (team's active career leader in both goals and points). Moon (eight games) and Mader (seven games) would combine to miss 15 games this season. The last time the two were on the same field together was in ASU's Pac-12 opener at UCLA (Sept. 22).
"I think we got massively derailed when we lost Jaz and Aly. That piece right there is the biggest one," ASU head coach Kevin Boyd said. "Today's game, we played hard. It's the same script over and over. We play hard and we play well. We create the best chances and we lose the game because we don't score on any of those chances. And then we give up what I would call a soft goal again and that has ailed us all year long where we play well, we don't give away much, and we give up soft goal, whether it is on a set piece or an error or whatever happens. And then we create chances and ust don't put it away. Looking at that game, who had the best chances? Again, it was us and we didn't score a goal. You're not going to win any games if you don't score goals. Should we have? Absolutely. Were there a couple of players on our bench that could have put it away? Yes. We've known that but we just didn't find a way with what we've had to put it in."
The game's only goal was scored by Arizona's Samantha Falasco, who found the back of the net on a header off a corner kick in the 65th minute. The goal represented another common theme in the seven-game losing streak the Sun Devils had to close out the season: Six times in the seven losses the opposition scored the game-winning goal after the 50th minute of play.
An equally tough pill for the Sun Devils to swallow was that Arizona's goal followed a first half in which the Sun Devils created two of the game's most dangerous scoring chances, but came away empty-handed.
The first of those opportunities came in the 31st minute when Natalie Stephens poked a pass in between two Wildcats and connected with Jessica Raybe who received the pass and immediately took a shot 10 yards from goal. Raybe would have her shot denied by Arizona goalkeeper Lainey Burdett, who came off her line and slid towards Raybe to deflect the ball out of harm's way.
ASU nearly broke the stalemate again in the 42nd minute when Lucy Lara's free kick from 35 yards out just missed its intended target and bounced off the post.
The Wildcats (9-9-1, 4-7) accounted for all the attacking statistics in the first 20 minutes of the second half as they set up a pair of corner kicks and took a pair of shots. The second of those corner kicks set up Falasco's goal.
Down but not out, the Sun Devils did not give up in their quest to find the equalizer. In the 69th minute Mckenzie Grossman slid and got her foot on a ball inside the box that went just to the left of the goal.
In the 86th minute a corner kick by Lara gave the Sun Devils two more attempts to find the back of the net. Once again the Sun Devils were denied as Grossman's header was blocked and Devyn Kelsey's rebound went high.
ASU would get one last shot in the final 10 seconds as Lara sent a corner kick into the box. Melinda Gutierrez went up in the scrum and got her head on the ball, but her shot was knocked away and the game ended with the Sun Devils coming up on the short end of the Territorial Cup Series game for the first time since 2013.
ASU ended the game with a 12-11 edge in overall shots. Both Raybe and Olivia Hernandez tied for the team lead with two shots on goal. Goalkeeper Megan Delaney made five saves for the Sun Devils. Delaney was one of five Sun Devils who played all 90 minutes on Friday, joining Grossman, Madison Stark, Devyn Kelsey and Lara. Kelsey ended the season as the only Sun Devil to start all 19 games for the season.
Friday's game was the final in the careers of Sun Devil seniors Grossman, Lara, Ashley March, Larisa Staub and Annie Warren.
"I felt like our seniors, and our three captains (Grossman, Lara and junior Madison Stark) especially, gave us some of the best leadership we've ever had," Boyd said. "I really liked what (Mckenzie Grossman) was doing, as she was spearheading that. Lucy's overall five years…the growth that she has shown in her game and as a person is outstanding and it's truly a pleasure to be a part of. I'm always going to be very, very proud of her."