EUGENE, Ore. – Enasia Colon scored her ninth goal of the season in the 82nd minute to break a scoreless tie and Pauline Nelles tied the school's single-season record for shutouts with her eighth of the season in the Sun Devil soccer team's 2-0 win at cold, rainy Oregon on Friday night.
Keri Matthews posted a career-high two assists while Nelles made five saves to help ASU run its winning streak to three. In addition to setting up Colon's third game-winning goal of the season, Matthews also provided the helper for Hannah Lapeire's first career goal in the 85th minute that sealed the win.
"I am really pleased with the result tonight," said ASU head coach Graham Winkworth. "Oregon is a much better team than its results would suggest and is particularly difficult to play here in Eugene.
"It was not one of our better performances from the season. Saying that, it is very difficult to pick up points in this league and even more difficult on the road. I felt like we defended well for large periods of the match and when we didn't, we got the excellent work from our keeper. All credit to Oregon for an excellent match and I am proud of the result as the sign of a good team is to find a way when you are not at your best. We will now take some time to rest before looking forward to next weekend at home."
With the win, the Sun Devils (9-2-4, 4-1-1 Pac-12) maintain their fourth-place standing in the Pac-12, just past the midpoint of the conference season. The top three teams in the league – No. 5 UCLA (6-0), No. 2 Stanford (5-0), No. 13 USC (5-0) – are all unbeaten in league play. Friday's game was the first of four road games ASU will play over the final six games of the regular season.
The Ducks (0-12-2, 0-6) did not resemble a team that has yet to record a win this season. Coming into the contest averaging 8.0 shots per game, the Ducks accounted for nine in the first half alone.
It appeared early on the Sun Devils would pick up where they left off in their last game in which they scored four goals in the second half of their 5-1 win over Washington State.
In the third minute, Gabi Rennie nearly put a goal up but was denied by the crossbar. Rennie would get another opportunity in the eighth minute, but Oregon goalkeeper Leah Parsons made the save.
Rennie accounted for three of ASU's seven shots and both of its shots on goal in the first half.
On the opposite end, Nelles collected four saves in the first half, including a pair of diving efforts in the 37th and 38th minutes, to keep the Ducks from scoring.
"I felt that we started the game really well creating some excellent chances but were unable to finish them," Winkworth said. "The second part of the first half I was not happy with and we talked about this at halftime. Oregon was better than us for those minutes and Pauli pulled of a couple of very good saves to keep it nil-nil."
Although the Sun Devils dominated in both shots (10-3) and shots on goal (5-1) in the second half, the game remained a stalemate with just 10 minutes remaining.
Colon, who scored the go-ahead goal in the 85th minute of last week's win over Washington, once again found the back of the net when it mattered most as she and Matthews teamed up on a give-and-go in the 82nd minute that resulted in Colon taking a shot from 15 yards that beat Parsons for the goal.
In the 85th minute, the Sun Devils ended any hope the Ducks had of getting a result when Lapeire scored on a corner kick by Matthews.
"The second half was much better," Winkworth said. "We showed them a couple of different shapes and I never felt like we were going to concede a goal as we controlled the game well in different ways. The biggest question was whether we could score at the other end. I was very happy with the way we won the game. Ena came back on after a short break and had a wonderful finish after lovely work from Kez. Then we finished a lovely set piece through Hannah which is something the girls have worked very hard on and I am proud of them for that."
The Sun Devils will play their final two home games of the regular season next week when they take on No. 13 USC (Thursday at 7 p.m.) and No. 5 UCLA (Sunday at 1 p.m.). Click here to purchase tickets for both games.
Keri Matthews posted a career-high two assists while Nelles made five saves to help ASU run its winning streak to three. In addition to setting up Colon's third game-winning goal of the season, Matthews also provided the helper for Hannah Lapeire's first career goal in the 85th minute that sealed the win.
"I am really pleased with the result tonight," said ASU head coach Graham Winkworth. "Oregon is a much better team than its results would suggest and is particularly difficult to play here in Eugene.
"It was not one of our better performances from the season. Saying that, it is very difficult to pick up points in this league and even more difficult on the road. I felt like we defended well for large periods of the match and when we didn't, we got the excellent work from our keeper. All credit to Oregon for an excellent match and I am proud of the result as the sign of a good team is to find a way when you are not at your best. We will now take some time to rest before looking forward to next weekend at home."
With the win, the Sun Devils (9-2-4, 4-1-1 Pac-12) maintain their fourth-place standing in the Pac-12, just past the midpoint of the conference season. The top three teams in the league – No. 5 UCLA (6-0), No. 2 Stanford (5-0), No. 13 USC (5-0) – are all unbeaten in league play. Friday's game was the first of four road games ASU will play over the final six games of the regular season.
SOLID SOCCER PAST FOUR SEASONS
Sun Devil soccer's 9-2-4 mark is part of a strong pattern, as its .607 win percentage (37-22-11)in the past four seasons is third-best in program history, while its .613 mark (28-16-9) is tied for third-best.
SUN DEVIL SOCCER BEST FOUR-YEAR WIN PERCENTAGE
2000-2003: .633/34-27-7
1999-2002: .630/49-28-4
2020-2023: .607/37-22-11
SUN DEVIL SOCCER BEST THREE-YEAR WIN PERCENTAGE
1999-2001: .633/37-21-2
2001-2003: .623/35-20-6
2021-2023: .613/28-16-9
2000-2002: .613/36-22-4
The Ducks (0-12-2, 0-6) did not resemble a team that has yet to record a win this season. Coming into the contest averaging 8.0 shots per game, the Ducks accounted for nine in the first half alone.
It appeared early on the Sun Devils would pick up where they left off in their last game in which they scored four goals in the second half of their 5-1 win over Washington State.
In the third minute, Gabi Rennie nearly put a goal up but was denied by the crossbar. Rennie would get another opportunity in the eighth minute, but Oregon goalkeeper Leah Parsons made the save.
Rennie accounted for three of ASU's seven shots and both of its shots on goal in the first half.
On the opposite end, Nelles collected four saves in the first half, including a pair of diving efforts in the 37th and 38th minutes, to keep the Ducks from scoring.
"I felt that we started the game really well creating some excellent chances but were unable to finish them," Winkworth said. "The second part of the first half I was not happy with and we talked about this at halftime. Oregon was better than us for those minutes and Pauli pulled of a couple of very good saves to keep it nil-nil."
Although the Sun Devils dominated in both shots (10-3) and shots on goal (5-1) in the second half, the game remained a stalemate with just 10 minutes remaining.
Colon, who scored the go-ahead goal in the 85th minute of last week's win over Washington, once again found the back of the net when it mattered most as she and Matthews teamed up on a give-and-go in the 82nd minute that resulted in Colon taking a shot from 15 yards that beat Parsons for the goal.
When you need a goal, count on Colon ?? @enasiacolon gives ASU the lead in the 81st minute!
— Sun Devil Soccer (@SunDevilSoccer) October 14, 2023
ASU 1 | ORE 0#ForksUp /// #O2V pic.twitter.com/isxw2j2FjF
In the 85th minute, the Sun Devils ended any hope the Ducks had of getting a result when Lapeire scored on a corner kick by Matthews.
"The second half was much better," Winkworth said. "We showed them a couple of different shapes and I never felt like we were going to concede a goal as we controlled the game well in different ways. The biggest question was whether we could score at the other end. I was very happy with the way we won the game. Ena came back on after a short break and had a wonderful finish after lovely work from Kez. Then we finished a lovely set piece through Hannah which is something the girls have worked very hard on and I am proud of them for that."
The Sun Devils will play their final two home games of the regular season next week when they take on No. 13 USC (Thursday at 7 p.m.) and No. 5 UCLA (Sunday at 1 p.m.). Click here to purchase tickets for both games.