(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)
On Friday night, Arizona State soccer played Oregon State in their first Pac-12 match of season and were determined to start conference play with a win.
The first half started out slowly for both teams as sloppy mistakes were evident. Poor passes and lazy movement denied either team the chance to gain momentum.
By the 25th minute, however, ASU started to play with more energy. The Sun Devils were able to gather 8 shots in the last 20 minutes of the first half. Senior Madison Stark made several great runs from the right back position as her teammates consistently looked for her crosses into the box.
At the start of the second half, the Devils continued to look like the better team and star transfer, Jemma Purfield, began to get more involved in the attack. The first goal came in the 51st minute as Purfield hit a perfect through ball to forward Jazmarie Mader. Mader passed it back to Purfield inside the box for an easy shot. Goalkeeper Bella Geist deflected the ball, but not enough to keep it out of the net.
ASU added to their lead in the 81st minute as Christina Edwards scored from 25 yards out, rattling the top right of the post and bouncing just through the goal line for her second goal of the season.
Oregon State denied a clean sheet for ASU, however, as a shot from Diana Santiago went right through the hands of freshmen goalkeeper Nikki Panas in the 83rd minute. That being said, time proved to be slim however for the Beavers to take it to overtime.
The game was really dominated by the wingbacks for ASU, as Madison Stark and Jemma Purfield really showed why they are leaders in this squad. Their awareness of the space given to them in the wings proved to be the reason for ASU’s victory.
ASU will travel to the Bay Area to play California and Stanford next weekend. These matches will be significantly more challenging for the Devils, as both are ranked in the top 25 in the nation.
