Boulder, Colo -- Freshman forward Dai Williams tallied her fourth goal of the season, but the Arizona State soccer team were unable to complete their would-be come from behind win in 2-1 loss to Colorado.
The Sun Devils found themselves down early as the Buffaloes were able to score the game's first goal in the second minute of the game.
The Sun Devils would regroup, creating a pair of quality looks at goal, but the Colorado defense would hold to keep the game at 1-0 thorough the first 45 minutes of play.
As the second half got underway, the Buffaloes were able to capitalize on a through ball to push their lead to 2-0 in the 49th minute of play.
The ASU attack would finally find a bit of traction in the 78th minute when Williams took a chance from the top corner of the 18' box, cutting the lead to 2-1.
Unfortunately, for the Sun Devils, the would-be comeback was held there as the Buffaloes were able to slow the game down and run out the clock with the final score reading 2-1 at the final whistle.
Arizona State will be back in action next week for the team's final two home games of the 2019 regular season. Action in the home-stand will begin Thursday afternoon when ASU welcomes Oregon State to Sun Devil Soccer Stadium for a 5:00 match. Fans can follow all of the action from the 2019 season by following @SunDevilSoccer on Twitter and Instagram.
A Word With Winkworth...
On the team's performance in Saturday's game;
"We were disappointing today. I have got to do a better job in making sure that in every game we go into, we are better than yesterday. Right now we are not completing passes that we would normally complete in training, we have got players who are not moving enough off the ball to create space for one another. That is something that makes us very easy to defend, and therefore we struggled to maintain possession. On the other end of the pitch, I have to do a better job of making sure we eliminate our mistakes. We have continued to make mistakes at the back and we have to eliminate that. To go a goal down inside the first two minutes of play is something we can't do. We can't gift teams goals that easily to start of matches. As a head coach, I have to do a better job of preparing the players to get better for every game. Today, we were disappointed."
On the effort to get the offense back on track;
"We had to change our system a little bit to try to get ourselves back in the game. I thought Dai (Williams) made an impact when she came into the game off the bench. That was great for her, and she is pushing for more playing time with an impact like that. I also want to praise our captain, Kylie Miniefield. She didn't stop all game and ran her socks off. I think if everyone trained and worked as hard as Kylie does in every practice and every game, we would probably be challenging further up the Pac-12 standings. We would be fighting at the right end of the table. I think she is an excellent leader by example, but right now with such a young team, we need some players who can lead vocally as well. Right now, nobody is stepping up into that role. We need more growth in that sense, and someone to step up and assist Kylie. Right now, in that game, it was like a silent morgue on the field. There needs to be more energy, and we need someone other than Mini to provide that energy every day. We are going to work hard in training as a staff and as a team to make sure that next time we step back onto the pitch that we are providing that sort of energy."
On the takeaways from the team's three-game road stand;
"All the games have been completely different. I thought that we were very resilient against Washington State. I thought we worked extremely hard in that game, but with this young group, we can't be such a yo-yo team. We can't come out and perform in one game, and then not in the next. The Pac-12 is too challenging in that every team is inside the top-50. If we want to become a challenger in that group, we have to perform more consistently, and in order to do that, we have to have to bring energy every single day. Not just on match day, but in training as well. We have to be more vocal and see more leadership in the group. I also have to do a better job, as a coach, to help create that sort of environment. That is something we will work on this week."
What's Next...
Following the team's road trip, ASU will return home to host Oregon State and Oregon in the team's final two home matches in the 2019 regular season. Action will begin Thursday with a 5:00 p.m. matchup against the Beavers, before closing the home slate with a noon meeting with the Ducks on Sunday.
The Sun Devils found themselves down early as the Buffaloes were able to score the game's first goal in the second minute of the game.
The Sun Devils would regroup, creating a pair of quality looks at goal, but the Colorado defense would hold to keep the game at 1-0 thorough the first 45 minutes of play.
As the second half got underway, the Buffaloes were able to capitalize on a through ball to push their lead to 2-0 in the 49th minute of play.
The ASU attack would finally find a bit of traction in the 78th minute when Williams took a chance from the top corner of the 18' box, cutting the lead to 2-1.
Unfortunately, for the Sun Devils, the would-be comeback was held there as the Buffaloes were able to slow the game down and run out the clock with the final score reading 2-1 at the final whistle.
Arizona State will be back in action next week for the team's final two home games of the 2019 regular season. Action in the home-stand will begin Thursday afternoon when ASU welcomes Oregon State to Sun Devil Soccer Stadium for a 5:00 match. Fans can follow all of the action from the 2019 season by following @SunDevilSoccer on Twitter and Instagram.
A Word With Winkworth...
On the team's performance in Saturday's game;
"We were disappointing today. I have got to do a better job in making sure that in every game we go into, we are better than yesterday. Right now we are not completing passes that we would normally complete in training, we have got players who are not moving enough off the ball to create space for one another. That is something that makes us very easy to defend, and therefore we struggled to maintain possession. On the other end of the pitch, I have to do a better job of making sure we eliminate our mistakes. We have continued to make mistakes at the back and we have to eliminate that. To go a goal down inside the first two minutes of play is something we can't do. We can't gift teams goals that easily to start of matches. As a head coach, I have to do a better job of preparing the players to get better for every game. Today, we were disappointed."
On the effort to get the offense back on track;
"We had to change our system a little bit to try to get ourselves back in the game. I thought Dai (Williams) made an impact when she came into the game off the bench. That was great for her, and she is pushing for more playing time with an impact like that. I also want to praise our captain, Kylie Miniefield. She didn't stop all game and ran her socks off. I think if everyone trained and worked as hard as Kylie does in every practice and every game, we would probably be challenging further up the Pac-12 standings. We would be fighting at the right end of the table. I think she is an excellent leader by example, but right now with such a young team, we need some players who can lead vocally as well. Right now, nobody is stepping up into that role. We need more growth in that sense, and someone to step up and assist Kylie. Right now, in that game, it was like a silent morgue on the field. There needs to be more energy, and we need someone other than Mini to provide that energy every day. We are going to work hard in training as a staff and as a team to make sure that next time we step back onto the pitch that we are providing that sort of energy."
On the takeaways from the team's three-game road stand;
"All the games have been completely different. I thought that we were very resilient against Washington State. I thought we worked extremely hard in that game, but with this young group, we can't be such a yo-yo team. We can't come out and perform in one game, and then not in the next. The Pac-12 is too challenging in that every team is inside the top-50. If we want to become a challenger in that group, we have to perform more consistently, and in order to do that, we have to have to bring energy every single day. Not just on match day, but in training as well. We have to be more vocal and see more leadership in the group. I also have to do a better job, as a coach, to help create that sort of environment. That is something we will work on this week."
What's Next...
Following the team's road trip, ASU will return home to host Oregon State and Oregon in the team's final two home matches in the 2019 regular season. Action will begin Thursday with a 5:00 p.m. matchup against the Beavers, before closing the home slate with a noon meeting with the Ducks on Sunday.