TEMPE – Ella Opkvitne and Enasia Colon both found the back of the net, the latter scoring the game winner in the 85th minute of the Sun Devil soccer team's 2-1 win over Washington on Thursday.
Opkvitne, one of six freshmen who has played in 10 or more games this season, scored her second goal of the season on the last of ASU's eight first-half shots in the 34th minute.
"There were a lot of positives to take from tonight," ASU head coach Graham Winkworth said. "The biggest one is the impact players were making as they came in off the bench. [Florence Vaillancourt] was an instant impact in the first half and then after not starting the second half, Ella came back on to assist Ena. I was also delighted with the attitude and positivity from the bench area. It is always hard for players when they are not in the game, but this group is special and really do have a team-first mentality. We are blessed with a lot of competition which only makes everyone better daily.
"There were a number of good performances today. [Hannah Lapeire] and [Lauren Kirberg] put in a real shift sitting in front of the back line and covered a lot of ground. It is this type of work that may not show up on the stat sheet but the team doesn't pick up the win without it."
The Sun Devils doubled up the Huskies in shots (8-4) and had a 3-2 edge on SOG in the first half. Both teams would end up with 14 shots apiece after the Huskies outshot ASU 10-6 in the second half.
"After a slow first 10 minutes I felt that we really controlled the first half," Winkworth said. "We played some good football, made a lot of unselfish runs off the ball and created a lot of good chances. We really should have scored more than one in the first half."
Five of Sun Devil goalkeeper Pauline Nelles' seven saves came in the second half.
With the Sun Devils (7-2-4, 2-1-1 Pac-12) six minutes away from collecting their eighth shutout of the season, the Huskies (5-5-2, 0-4-0) became just the fifth team in 13 games to score against ASU, tying the game at 1-1 in the 85th minute.
"The second half we expected a response from Washington and we got it," Winkworth said. "I did not feel that we were as good in possession during the second period and ultimately this put us under some pressure that we could have avoided. We will definitely want to take a look at this on the film and work on those areas in training."
It would take less than a minute for ASU to answer as Colon, the team's most dangerous scoring threat from anywhere on the field, found herself uncovered and unleashed a shot from almost 40 yards that found its way home, giving the Sun Devils the win.
"I am delighted for Ena to score such a beautiful winner," Winkworth said of Colon's goal. "It is not usually an area of the pitch we encourage shots from but the defender backed off her and she struck the ball very well. It was a lovely response to conceding the late equalizer. Ella was able to score and assist and I thought put in maybe her best performance as a Sun Devil so far."
Opkvitne, who led ASU in both shots (7) and shots on goal (4), became the sixth Sun Devil to have scored multiple goals this season.
Now with eight goals, Colon is tied for second in the Pac-12. She is also second in the league in points (19) and points per game (1.46).
Heading into Sunday's match with Washington State, the Sun Devils are in sole possession of fifth place in the Pac-12 standings.
MATCH SUMMARY
The Sun Devils host Washington State on Sunday at 12 pm. Click here to purchase tickets.
Opkvitne, one of six freshmen who has played in 10 or more games this season, scored her second goal of the season on the last of ASU's eight first-half shots in the 34th minute.
"There were a lot of positives to take from tonight," ASU head coach Graham Winkworth said. "The biggest one is the impact players were making as they came in off the bench. [Florence Vaillancourt] was an instant impact in the first half and then after not starting the second half, Ella came back on to assist Ena. I was also delighted with the attitude and positivity from the bench area. It is always hard for players when they are not in the game, but this group is special and really do have a team-first mentality. We are blessed with a lot of competition which only makes everyone better daily.
"There were a number of good performances today. [Hannah Lapeire] and [Lauren Kirberg] put in a real shift sitting in front of the back line and covered a lot of ground. It is this type of work that may not show up on the stat sheet but the team doesn't pick up the win without it."
The Sun Devils doubled up the Huskies in shots (8-4) and had a 3-2 edge on SOG in the first half. Both teams would end up with 14 shots apiece after the Huskies outshot ASU 10-6 in the second half.
"After a slow first 10 minutes I felt that we really controlled the first half," Winkworth said. "We played some good football, made a lot of unselfish runs off the ball and created a lot of good chances. We really should have scored more than one in the first half."
Five of Sun Devil goalkeeper Pauline Nelles' seven saves came in the second half.
With the Sun Devils (7-2-4, 2-1-1 Pac-12) six minutes away from collecting their eighth shutout of the season, the Huskies (5-5-2, 0-4-0) became just the fifth team in 13 games to score against ASU, tying the game at 1-1 in the 85th minute.
"The second half we expected a response from Washington and we got it," Winkworth said. "I did not feel that we were as good in possession during the second period and ultimately this put us under some pressure that we could have avoided. We will definitely want to take a look at this on the film and work on those areas in training."
It would take less than a minute for ASU to answer as Colon, the team's most dangerous scoring threat from anywhere on the field, found herself uncovered and unleashed a shot from almost 40 yards that found its way home, giving the Sun Devils the win.
"I am delighted for Ena to score such a beautiful winner," Winkworth said of Colon's goal. "It is not usually an area of the pitch we encourage shots from but the defender backed off her and she struck the ball very well. It was a lovely response to conceding the late equalizer. Ella was able to score and assist and I thought put in maybe her best performance as a Sun Devil so far."
ENASIA COLON ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?
— Sun Devil Soccer (@SunDevilSoccer) October 6, 2023
DEVILS HAVE THE LEAD WITH FIVE MINUTES TO GO
ASU 2 | UW 1#ForksUp /// #O2V pic.twitter.com/yAGIxouxGe
Opkvitne, who led ASU in both shots (7) and shots on goal (4), became the sixth Sun Devil to have scored multiple goals this season.
Now with eight goals, Colon is tied for second in the Pac-12. She is also second in the league in points (19) and points per game (1.46).
Heading into Sunday's match with Washington State, the Sun Devils are in sole possession of fifth place in the Pac-12 standings.
MATCH SUMMARY
- 16' | Lucy Johnson and Colon missed connecting on a cross in front of the Washington goal.
- 17' | Ella Opkvitne whistled a shot from distance that nearly found the target.
- 19' | Johnson attempted a chip from inside the box that was just high.
- 21'| Colon pushed her shot just a bit too much to the left of the goal after the ball came bouncing her way on a set piece.
- 23' | Opkvitne used some nifty moves to dribble her way to the six-yard box before her shot was thwarted by Washington goalkeeper Olivia Juarez.
- 34' | After taking seven shots, including two on goal, in the first 32 minutes, ASU finally broke open the door to Washington's goal on its eighth attempt when Opkvitne took a pass in the box from Florence Vaillancourt and beat Juarez for the first goal of the game.
- 52' | Pauline Nelles made her first save of the second half and third of the game.
ELLA ELLA AYE AYE
— Sun Devil Soccer (@SunDevilSoccer) October 6, 2023
Ella finds the back of the net to give the Sun Devils the early lead!
ASU 1 | UW 0#ForksUp /// #O2V pic.twitter.com/sGBveY5L74
- 77' | Opkvitne nearly scored her second goal but a great save by Juarez pushed the shot just wide.
- 81' | Lieske Carleer prevented Washington's Kelsey Branson from having a 1v1 opportunity with a well-executed tackle inside the box.
- 85' | The Huskies tied the game when Branson scored on a rebound.
- 85' | It took ASU less than a minute to recapture the lead. Colon was by herself about 40 yards from the goal and decided to uncork a spectacular shot that propelled ASU back into the lead.
The Sun Devils host Washington State on Sunday at 12 pm. Click here to purchase tickets.