Soccer

ASU Fails to Mount Comeback, Suffers First Defeat vs UCF

TEMPE — The Arizona State University soccer team lost for the first time this season Sunday, falling 3-2 to UCF in front of a sizeable crowd in Tempe as the Sun Devils’ multi-goal burst was not enough to overcome a disheartening defensive performance.

ASU entered Sunday’s contest coming off a 0-0 draw Thursday against Oklahoma State, a disappointing result in the eyes of head coach Graham Winkworth. Sunday, the Sun Devils’ woes continued, as the Knights were able to disrupt ASU’s rhythm and provide the program its first loss of the season.

“It is heartbreaking. We did not look like us today,” said the head coach Graham Winkworth. “We are disappointed in what we did, but now I am even more interested in how we as a team react to that next week against Cincinnati.”

Since the first whistle, UCF set a lot of tempo on their half of the field, shutting down ASU’s creation of attacking chances. While the Sun Devils made a few crosses into the box, possession in the attacking third rarely translated into shots on goal unobstructed.

The Knights got on the board first, sending in a powerful shot from the top of the box to pass Pauline Nelles in the top left corner of the goal. With UCF picking up early steam and quieting the Sun Devil faithful, ASU would go into the half down 0-1.

ASU answered in the 51st minute when senior midfielder Tatum Thomason sent a sweeping cross into the box. Junior defender Lucy Fazackerley stood unmarked, on her toes, in anticipation of the oncoming pass, which she dispatched into the net for the equalizer.”

For a few minutes, the Sun Devils appeared to have wrestled control back. But UCF soon responded with two goals in the 53st and 69th minutes to restore a two-goal margin. ASU’s defense, usually solid in the air, had trouble marking runners on crosses and gave away room in and around the penalty area.

Thomason scored ASU’s final goal of the match in the last 10 minutes, converting a deflected cross into an empty net to trim the deficit to 3-2.

The late score gave ASU’s attack a jolt of energy, but the comeback attempt faltered as UCF’s defense shut down pressure in stoppage time.

“I wasn’t surprised that we were creating chances and scoring on that side during the second half, but surely, we weren’t able to do it in the first,” Winkworth said.

This leaves Arizona State, which grew accustomed to jumping out early and dictating the tempo of games through its unbeaten start, the difficult task of effecting change. For Winkworth, the challenge is how his team gets its swagger back as it embarks on the middle part of conference season.

The loss also ended a long homestand for ASU, which now faces three weeks on the road. The Sun Devils will visit Cincinnati next weekend and then play games at West Virginia and Colorado. Their next home game is scheduled for Oct. 16 against Texas Tech.