(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)
The Sun Devils women’s soccer team (6-6-3, 0-4-2 Pac-12) struggled to put their shots on target on Saturday afternoon, falling 2-1 against the Colorado Buffaloes (10-4-1, 2-3-1).
Arizona State took 16 shots throughout the contest, but only recorded 3 shots on goal. Their offense struggled to maintain a healthy possession in the attacking half and could not create quality opportunities for the strikers.
“Right now we are not completing passes that we would normally complete in training, we have got players who are not moving enough off the ball to create space for one another,” said Sun Devil head coach Graham Winkworth. “That is something that makes us very easy to defend, and therefore we struggled to maintain possession.”
Although the Buffaloes utilized their possession more effectively, they did not completely dominate the game. They recorded 17 total shots, to the Sun Devils’ 16, but 10 of those shots were on target. Thus, their shooting percentage was 59%, a much higher clip than the Sun Devils’ 19%.
This put freshman Arizona State goalkeeper Giulia Cascapera in many precarious positions, as shots were flying toward her the entire contest. She managed to save 8 shots, but the 2 goals from Colorado came from point blank range and there was not much she could do.
Colorado goalkeeper, Jalen Tompkins was forced to save only 2 shots the entire match, out of the Sun Devils’ 16 total shots. Coach Winkworth attributed the team’s struggles in this department to a lack of energy.
“There needs to be more energy, and we need someone other than (senior midfielder Kylie) Miniefield to provide that energy every day,” said coach Winkworth. “We are going to work hard in training as a staff and as a team to make sure that next time we step back onto the pitch we are providing that sort of energy.”
The Sun Devils lacked much of the energy they showed in their matches against USC and Washington State. In their past two games, Arizona State was outshot 27-4 and then 24-6, with only 5 total shots on goal in the two games. The offense has only managed 3 goals in their last 5 games, and 5 goals the entire Pac-12 season.
The Sun Devils remain winless in conference play as well, as they have four losses and two draws through six matches. Though the Sun Devils fought gallantly in many of their games, they seemed out of sorts for their less important matches. Coach Winkworth admits that the collective focus must be there for every match and in practice.
“The Pac-12 is too challenging in that every team is inside the top-50. If we want to become a challenger in that group, we have to perform more consistently, and in order to do that, we have to, have to bring energy every single day,” said Coach Winkworth. “Not just on match day, but in training as well. We have to be more vocal and see more leadership in the group…..that is something we will work on this week.”
The Sun Devils will host Oregon State on Thursday night and Oregon on Saturday afternoon in Tempe.
