TEMPE – The 1,368 fans in attendance at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium on Thursday night saw a tale of two halves by each team. But ultimately, it was an 85th-minute game-winning goal by Texas Tech’s Taylor Zdrojweski that allowed the 12th-ranked Red Raiders to escape Tempe with a 3-2 win over Arizona State.
Zdrojewski broke the 0-0 knot on the scoreboard less than five minutes in the match, before Storie Sexton found the back of the net for the first time this season to extend Texas Tech’s lead out to 2-0 going into halftime.
After having only one shot attempt during the match’s first 45 minutes, the Arizona State offense began to find its success during the early stages of the second half.
Peyton Marcisz began the Sun Devils’ rally by scoring an unassisted goal five minutes into the second half. And then 10 minutes later, Marcisz and Cameron Valladares worked together to find Sierra Bergen for the game-tying goal at the 60:01 mark.
Over the next 25 minutes, each squad had multiple opportunities to take the lead before Zdrojewski capped her two-goal night and gave Texas Tech its first-ever win over Arizona State in Tempe.
From head coach Graham Winkworth
“As frustrating as it was in the way the winner was scored, as there may have been a question of offside, ultimately, our first-half performance was the reason we lost tonight. And we must learn from it. I was very proud of our response in the second half.”
From senior midfielder Peyton Marcisz
“I would say we started a little bit scared. The past couple of losses have had us a little bit unconfident, but it was the first home game in a while, so we were trying to keep a positive attitude. After the first half, they had two goals against us, which hindered us more.
We had a good halftime talk with (Coach Winkworth), and he basically said, ‘You guys have nothing to lose. Be confident. We know this is a high-ranked team, we know that they have quality players, but we can play around them.’ So, we went into the second half trying to think, ‘OK, new game, new 45, anything can happen,’ and we responded.”
Match notes
- By playing all 90 minutes of Thursday’s contest, Arizona State senior Pauline Nelles (6409:52; 2022-P) joins Chandler Morris (7124:06; 2011-15) as the only Sun Devil goalkeepers in program history to play 6,400-or-more career minutes between the pipes.
- Nelles also made her 72nd career start in goal for Arizona State, which pushes her past Erin Reinke (1997-00) for second place on the program’s career matches started by a Sun Devil goalkeeper list.
- With her assist on Sierra Bergen’s 60th-minute goal, Cameron Valladares now has nine assists on the season, which ties her with Manya Makoski (2002) for second place on the program’s single-season assist list.
- Texas Tech’s game-winning goal at the 84:50 mark of the second half was the 16th latest game-winning goal allowed by the Sun Devils in regulation. It’s the latest game-winning goal allowed by Arizona State since UCLA’s Reilyn Turner scored at the 88:07 clip on Oct. 22, 2023.
Up next
Despite playing Thursday’s match at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium, Arizona State (9-4-2, 2-4-1) will return to the road, where the Sun Devils will play Iowa State (4-7-2, 1-6-0) at Cyclone Sports Complex in Ames, Iowa with kickoff slated for 11 a.m. MST on Sunday, Oct. 19. The match will mark the fourth road match for ASU over its last five games with a trip to Utah waiting on Thursday, Oct. 23 as well.
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