Pullman, Wash. -- Following a hard-fought 110 minutes of play, the Arizona State soccer team and the No. 15 Washington State Cougars settled for a scoreless draw at Lower Soccer Field Sunday afternoon.
Looking to start strong, the Sun Devils came out of the gate matching the 15th- ranked Cougar attack. While the Cougars were able to ultimately outshoot the Sun Devils in the first 45 minutes of play, the ASU defense did a wonderful job of holding Washington State to tough looks on goal, with very few shots challenging ASU keeper Giulia Cascapera and the Sun Devil defense.
Following the break, the Sun Devils came back out looking to pull ahead. Following a barrage of WSU shots through the first 15 minutes of the half, the Sun Devils finally found traction in the 71st minute, when ASU looked to have scored the game's first goal with a lovely strike from Eva Van Deursen. Unfortunately, the goal would be waived off as the Sun Devil attack was just a step too early, and was called offsides.
With neither team able to breakthrough in the final 19 minutes of regulation, the Sun Devils would find themselves in just their second Pac-12 overtime match of the season.
In the first ten-minute period, ASU was able to create an opportunity, but the shot off the foot of Marleen Schimmer would sail just wide, and keep the game tied at 0-0.
In the final overtime period, the game, which had been relatively clean all afternoon, would become extremely physical and result in two bookings, including a straight-red for Washington State's Mykiaa Minniss for what was a hard challenge on a Sun Devil offensive attack in the 105th minute of play.
With neither team, again, able to find the back of the net, the game would go final with the score reading 0-0.
A Word With Winkworth...
On the team's effort to come away with a draw against the 15th ranked Cougars;
"Washington State is a really talented and extremely well-coached team, they are the No. 15 team in the nation for a reason. To come here and pick up a point is an excellent result. All credit to Washington State as well, because they worked hard to get a point as well. I do feel that we were very unfortunate to not pick up all three points. Having had a second look at Eva's goal, she looked to be on-side, to me. I think we are a little disappointed to not have come away with three points today."
On the WSU shot advantage in the match;
"I don't really worry about the number of shots an opposing team has. To me, it is much more important to look at the quality of the shot. Part of our game plan was to allow them to have shots from distance and that is the majority of what they had today. I thought the best chance of the game fell to Eva, and she put it in the back of the net. Unfortunately, we didn't have that call go our way. On another day, that one counts and we pick up a 1-0 victory on the road. I was really really proud of the ladies' efforts."
On Giulia Cascapera's 19-save performance in the two road games this weekend;
"She has been fantastic all weekend and has done a great job of keeping things close. Washington was just fantastic on Thursday night, I wouldn't take anything away from them. She was excellent at making saves today. I didn't think they were quite as big as the ones she had to make on Thursday night, but she was very solid again today and was a big part and big reason why we were able to come away without conceding any goals."
Match Notes...
- With the tie, ASU improved to 13-9-2 all-time against the Cougars, and have not lost to WSU since the 2017 season.
- Giulia Cascapera turned in yet another incredible performance in the draw, carding nine saves in the match. She was just one save shy of matching her career-high, which she set in Thursday's game at Washington.
- Arizona State combined to make 20 saves on the weekend, 19 coming from Cascapera, and one team save in this afternoon's outing.
Up Next...
The Sun Devils will be back in action next weekend with a road-match at Colorado. Kickoff in Saturday's match is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. PT and will be streamed on Colorado's Pac-12 Plus channel. Fans can follow all of the action from ASU's matchup against the Buffaloes by following @SunDevilSoccer on Twitter and Instagram.