EUGENE, Ore. -- Tenacious offensive pressure from the Sun Devils ends in a 1-1 tie against Oregon through double overtime at Papé Stadium on Friday night. The No. 24 Arizona State (5-0-2) soccer team remained undefeated on the season kudos to a penalty goal from Nicole Douglas in the 73rd minute.
Douglas boasts seven goals through as many games to continue her reign as the Pac-12 Conference's leading point-scorer. Her 14 points places her in the top-15 nationally.
The squad suppressed any, and all UO (2-3-2) set piece chances, including eight corner kick opportunities. ASU's defense withheld the Ducks from getting on goal, outshooting them on-target, 7-3, through 110 minutes. UO's one goal came in the first half off an unusual bardown ball that wasn't immediately recognized as a goal by the officials.
Junior Cori Sullivan made her first collegiate appearance in nearly two years on Friday night. She brought the energy to the pitch and immediately started firing off shots after entering the game off the bench in the 36th minute. She finished the night with three shot attempts and two shots on goal.
"Cori has been hungry for two years. I'm so happy. When she was coming off the bench and onto the pitch, I said to her, 'just go out there and enjoy yourself.' And she did just that," said head coach Graham Winkworth. "She got to go out there and enjoy the moment and be exceptional tonight."
UP NEXT: The team travels north to Corvallis to face the Oregon State Beavers on Sunday, March 14 at noon MST. The matchup will be featured on the Pac-12 Network.
"I'm really proud of the team because we've had such a difficult week, and to come on the road and pick up a point and be unlucky not to pick up all three, I couldn't be more proud. We're looking forward to the next one and enjoying every moment as a team," Winkworth said.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
A WORD WITH WINKWORTH
On performance tonight:
"I'm really, really proud of the players tonight. We had a very challenging week with facing adversity with missing some players and some injuries. Still, we came into the game today and conceded a goal right before halftime, which is a very difficult time to concede a goal, especially a controversial goal. It's challenging to pick the players up at halftime when we've created three or four great opportunities in the first half and just haven't converted. In the second half, the players were magnificent. Came out and scored a penalty kick. Having Cori Sullivan come out after two years, she brought a ton of energy to the game and came so close to scoring within five minutes of being on. I'm so happy for her and it's moments like that make the game worthwhile - to see the smiles on everyone's faces when she went in and then when she nearly scored, it was wonderful."
On defense against Oregon:
"I think we defended really well, limiting Oregon to primarily; their biggest chances were off set pieces, and I think we defended them well, and I think we defended open play well. We played a couple of different ways to what we have been doing to try and rest some of the legs in a two-game weekend, and I thought the players responded well. In the first half, although we gave up a lot of possession to Oregon, we were the team with the three best chances, so I'm really happy with their efforts."
On double overtimes in consecutive games:
"We're drinking the lemonade and getting ready for it. There are no excuses, and when adversity comes in our direction, we're going to enjoy every moment because we're blessed to be playing soccer. If anything, we just had 40 minutes of extra soccer that we wouldn't have had if our school didn't do a wonderful job of supporting us through the pandemic. To have two double overtimes is just bonus soccer as far as I'm concerned."
Douglas boasts seven goals through as many games to continue her reign as the Pac-12 Conference's leading point-scorer. Her 14 points places her in the top-15 nationally.
The squad suppressed any, and all UO (2-3-2) set piece chances, including eight corner kick opportunities. ASU's defense withheld the Ducks from getting on goal, outshooting them on-target, 7-3, through 110 minutes. UO's one goal came in the first half off an unusual bardown ball that wasn't immediately recognized as a goal by the officials.
Junior Cori Sullivan made her first collegiate appearance in nearly two years on Friday night. She brought the energy to the pitch and immediately started firing off shots after entering the game off the bench in the 36th minute. She finished the night with three shot attempts and two shots on goal.
"Cori has been hungry for two years. I'm so happy. When she was coming off the bench and onto the pitch, I said to her, 'just go out there and enjoy yourself.' And she did just that," said head coach Graham Winkworth. "She got to go out there and enjoy the moment and be exceptional tonight."
soooo close ?? pic.twitter.com/unJcNKcKV2
— Sun Devil Soccer (@SunDevilSoccer) March 13, 2021
UP NEXT: The team travels north to Corvallis to face the Oregon State Beavers on Sunday, March 14 at noon MST. The matchup will be featured on the Pac-12 Network.
"I'm really proud of the team because we've had such a difficult week, and to come on the road and pick up a point and be unlucky not to pick up all three, I couldn't be more proud. We're looking forward to the next one and enjoying every moment as a team," Winkworth said.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Giulia Cascapera started in goal for the sixth time this season.
- ASU kicked the first shot of the game with a ball that went just high over the crossbar from freshman Tahlia Herman-Watt at 13:50.
- Nearly 10 minutes later, Olivia Nguyen looked to capitalize on a scrum in front of the Oregon net with a shot to the bottom left. Oregon came up with the save.
- Nicole Douglas attempted a shot to the bottom center of the Ducks net, but Oregon came up with another save.
- The Sun Devils caged the Ducks' offensive efforts through 34 minutes. Oregon got its first shot off of the game in the 35th minute.
- Cori Sullivan made her season debut for ASU in the 35th minute and took a shot in the 40th minute that the opposing team saved.
- Oregon scored the first goal of the game off an unusual ball that went bar down above Cascapera. The goal wasn't immediately called but was eventually given to the Ducks at 41:44.
- Oregon started the second half with some offensive buzz, forcing Cascapera to make a save at 50:44. The Ducks took two more shots in the next 10 minutes - one over the top and another one saved by Cascapera
- In the 63rd minute, Nguyen and Douglas lured the Ducks keeper out as Douglas headed a shot that went just left of the goal post
- ASU worked multiple attempts, carrying the ball into enemy territory and drew a foul off a run at goal. Tied for Pac-12 leading goal scorer, Douglas, took the penalty shot and scored the equalizer with a low ball to the left corner at 73:32
- The Ducks pushed scrappy play on the Sun Devils resulting in three straight fouls through the next ten minutes.
- ASU fought off two UO corner kick opportunities in the 88th minute and turned the tables with their own offensive push in the final minute. Jessica Hale kicked a beauty to the top corner that, with a flying leap, the Ducks goalkeeper saved
- In the first overtime, Jazmine Wilkinson shot the only attempt for the Sun Devils while ASU defused another pair of UO corner kicks in the final minute.
- The Sun Devils worked in the second OT, keeping the pressure on high as Sullivan and Nguyen combined three shots in five minutes. The game ended with a midfield battle.
A WORD WITH WINKWORTH
On performance tonight:
"I'm really, really proud of the players tonight. We had a very challenging week with facing adversity with missing some players and some injuries. Still, we came into the game today and conceded a goal right before halftime, which is a very difficult time to concede a goal, especially a controversial goal. It's challenging to pick the players up at halftime when we've created three or four great opportunities in the first half and just haven't converted. In the second half, the players were magnificent. Came out and scored a penalty kick. Having Cori Sullivan come out after two years, she brought a ton of energy to the game and came so close to scoring within five minutes of being on. I'm so happy for her and it's moments like that make the game worthwhile - to see the smiles on everyone's faces when she went in and then when she nearly scored, it was wonderful."
On defense against Oregon:
"I think we defended really well, limiting Oregon to primarily; their biggest chances were off set pieces, and I think we defended them well, and I think we defended open play well. We played a couple of different ways to what we have been doing to try and rest some of the legs in a two-game weekend, and I thought the players responded well. In the first half, although we gave up a lot of possession to Oregon, we were the team with the three best chances, so I'm really happy with their efforts."
On double overtimes in consecutive games:
"We're drinking the lemonade and getting ready for it. There are no excuses, and when adversity comes in our direction, we're going to enjoy every moment because we're blessed to be playing soccer. If anything, we just had 40 minutes of extra soccer that we wouldn't have had if our school didn't do a wonderful job of supporting us through the pandemic. To have two double overtimes is just bonus soccer as far as I'm concerned."