(Photo by: Steve Rodriguez/ ASU athletics)
The Arizona State soccer team struggled out of the gates against No. 19 Texas A&M and was never able to overcome its slow start as it fell 3-1 on Friday night.
Two first-half Aggie goals within three minutes of each other put the Sun Devils in a bind. Head coach Kevin Boyd attributes the errors to sloppy defense.
“We got outplayed the first half, we didn’t play fast enough, and we were on our heels,” Boyd said. “One [of the goals] came out of a throw in, and our player got spun [by the forward], and no one stepped to her and she hit a shot. The second one came out of our two centerbacks with one forward contesting. We wait for it, and we clear it into the stomach of the forward. It conveniently goes forward off that player and she runs right by both centerbacks and puts it away.
“Two bad errors, and in a game like this you can’t give those away,” Boyd said.
In the second half, Sun Devil forward Cali Farquharson took advantage of a mistake by Aggie goal keeper Jordan Day. Farquharson stole the ball and scored for her fifth consecutive game, dating back to last season.
“The second half we came out with kind of a revived idea of who we were and what we were doing, and we got a very fortunate goal. Cali picked their goalie, and now we’re in it, we got a sniff of it,” Boyd said. “But we just didn’t do our job well enough.”
A goal by Texas A&M forward Allie Bailey in the 84th minute sealed the win for the Aggies.
“We didn’t do enough to earn the win. So, today the better team won,” Boyd said.
The Sun Devils will continue their trip of the Lone Star State as they take on Stephen F. Austin on Sunday at 9:30 am.
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Notes:
You can reach Mauricio Casillas on Twitter @maucasillas94 or by email mauricio.casillas94@gmail.com
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