(Photo: Jacob Garcia/WCSN)
It has been a tough weekend for the Arizona State Sun Devils.
On Friday, the Devils lost to Cal after playing much better than their opponents. ASU held most of the possession that game, and beat the Golden Bears in almost every stat except the final score.
In Sunday’s matchup against Stanford, ASU was in the same position that Cal was on Friday, but without any luck on goal.
“You have to keep the ball,” head coach Kevin Boyd said. “I didn’t think we did that well.”
Stanford came into the game very aggressively, forcing a turnover by the Sun Devils in less than five seconds. This became a very common pattern throughout the rest of the game.
ASU’s pass accuracy seemed very shaky, and at times the Sun Devils struggled to keep the ball for more than 15 seconds.
“We just weren’t handling the ball well,” said Boyd. “We looked a little bit panicked, especially in the first half. It was better second half, but we just were not handling the ball very well, for no apparent reason.
On the other hand, Stanford moved the ball at a much faster pace than most teams the Sun Devil’s back line has ever faced. It was very common to see Stanford keep the ball for over a minute without any serious contention.
Perhaps for that same reason, many Sun Devil offensive players were forced to expend their energy defending the ball rather than on the attack, which led to a slower build-up and more passing errors. The ball finally ended up back in Stanford possession, starting the vicious cycle all over again.
“Once we got broken down kind of right away it felt like it was really hard to get back. They’re a great possession team,” midfielder Tommi Goodman said.
ASU tried to negate the effects of the cycle by bringing fresh legs onto the field.
“When he[Boyd] put me in today he said, ‘I just need you to run. I just need you to work hard like you always do.’ That’s what we really needed up top today,” ASU midfielder Madison Kmetko said.
Stanford’s back line did not help ASU’s attack in any way, either. The Cardinal only let in six goals this season and it’s easy to see why. The whole line moved as a unit to cover each other in case a Sun Devil got through, and the communication between them seemed almost telepathic.
Stanford goalkeeper Jane Campbell was an active participant of that line. She acted as a fifth defender at times, positioning herself 20 to 30 yards into the playing field, so the defense could press up even more.
Her playing style was almost similar to that of Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
At the end of the game, Stanford’s defensive unit allowed only four shots, of which only three were on goal.
However even after the defeat, the Sun Devils have not given up hope of making it to the NCAA Tournament.
“We have to focus on who we are. Stay on that” Boyd said. “Today, we just weren’t who we are. That just didn’t look like us at all.”
You can reach Anthony Marroquin on Twitter @tonymarro11 or email him at aamarroq@asu.edu
