(Photo: Xavier Litman/WCSN)
Graduate forward Nicole Douglas and graduate midfielder Eva van Deursen reached historic milestones in route to Arizona State Women’s Soccer’s (8-4-3, 4-4-1 Pac-12) Thursday night’s 5-1 victory over the Oregon Ducks (4-7-6, 2-5-2 Pac-12). Douglas broke the record for most goals and points in a single match and van Deursen tied the career assist record.
Douglas led the nation in goals last season, but she had a scoreless drought in Pac-12 play coming into Thursday’s match against Oregon. Douglas snapped that streak quickly as she scored in the 1st minute of the match. She talks about how she was able to make an immediate impact.
“Once I scored the first one, I knew I was on a roll,” Douglas said. “Credit to my teammates as well who are always providing assists. Without them, this wouldn’t be possible. There was a slight position change for me as well. We tried to get me a little more space in the midfield and dropping a bit deeper. Ultimately it worked, so I was really happy.”
Douglas just needed to see the ball hit the back of the net for her to get into a rhythm. Junior defender Lucy Johnson crossed the ball into the box and it was perfectly placed for Douglas to head the ball in for her second goal of the match to extend the lead for ASU 2-0 in the 23rd minute.
When it rains, it pours. Douglas pulled off a hat trick in the 24th minute off an assist from van Deursen and junior midfielder Jazmine Wilkinson. The assist from van Deursen tied her for the ASU career assist record with Stacey Tullock with 25 assists.
“Honestly, I knew at the beginning of the season that I needed 5 more to break the record and four more to tie it,” van Deursen said. “It’s been in the back of my head…I have one more to break it and that is definitely my goal.”
The Ducks did not have a shot on goal in the first half of the match whereas the Sun Devils had six, with three of those hitting the back of the net. Oregon had two shot attempts, which was fewer than ASU had shots on goal. Junior goalkeeper Leah Freeman had three saves in the first half for the Ducks, but she also allowed the three goals to Douglas.
Oregon had its first shot on goal by the 49th minute, but ASU responded by scoring a goal in the 54th minute. Douglas passed it to van Deursen, who scored from the right side of the goal to push the lead out to 4-0.
It seemed like the Ducks had enough of the ASU onslaught as they scored their first goal of the match in the 70th minute. Senior forward Lexi Romero scored off an assist from freshman defender Anna Emperador to cut the deficit to 5-1.
ASU answered Oregon’s goal with Douglas scoring her fourth goal of the match in the 74th minute off an assist from sophomore forward Keri Matthews and junior forward Gabi Rennie to increase the lead to 5-1. Douglas had four goals with nine points, which are both single-match records, by the time she was substituted for in the 83rd minute.
“I’ll be honest, I don’t think we’ve played well all-conference season,” head coach Graham Winkworth. “Tonight, I think that was the best performance of our season. Leah Freeman, their goalkeeper, is one of the best goalkeepers in the country. You might have just watched the two best goalkeepers in the country play against each other. To score five on a keeper that quality, the finishing had to be exquisite, and it really was tonight.”
The Sun Devils hope to carry this momentum over when they host the Oregon State Beavers (4-10-3, 0-8-1 Pac-12) on Sunday to keep their tournament aspirations alive.
