ASU Soccer struggles to manage Utah aggressiveness in loss

(Photo by: Maya Diaz/ WCSN)

TEMPE — A look of confusion flashed across Arizona State (7-3-3, 2-3-1) junior goalkeeper Pauline Nelles’ face just two seconds into Friday’s matchup with Utah (5-4-4, 2-2-2). With the first kick of the game, Utes sophomore midfielder Lilliah Blum had elected to wind up and send the ball soaring towards the ASU end line with no offensive support in sight, seemingly ceding opening possession to the Sun Devils despite the Utes being given the opening kickoff.

After watching the ball harmlessly roll across the white end line 15 feet wide of the net, Nelles retrieved it and jogged to the edge of the eight-yard box. Nelles planted the ball on the grass and turned to do what she always does on goal kicks: pass it laterally to fellow junior Grace Gillard.

Only this time, Gillard was tightly marked. Improvising, Nelles turned to her other side and looked for senior Olivia Coleman before pausing suddenly, realizing Coleman was also smothered by a Utah attacker. With her two most reliable options taken away, Nelles, flummoxed, made way for fifth-year Lucy Johnson to take the goal kick. Johnson attempted to push the ball up toward the midfield, but a Utah midfielder stepped in the path of the pass, and the Utes were on the front foot just 10 seconds into the match despite willingly giving up possession with the first kick of the night.

The high-pressing, aggressive Utah Utes set the tone early and often, frantically hounding ASU defenders from the moment Blum’s blast began the game to the moment referee Elvis Mahmutovic’s whistle ended it. The Utes took all of nine minutes to put themselves on the scoresheet, capitalizing on one of many Sun Devil mistakes as fifth-year senior Taliana Kaufusi deposited a perfectly weighted Blum through ball past the outstretched leg of Nelles for the first of the team’s four goals in a 4-1 rout of ASU on the first Friday in October.

“Pretty poor, I think the scoreline reflected that,” ASU head coach Graham Winkworth said regarding his side’s response to Utah’s aggressive style of play. “Their pressure was much better than ours, they had outworked us in that sense…and just outplayed us overall”

Opportunities going forward were difficult to come by for ASU all night. The Sun Devils registered just two shots on goal to Utah’s five. However, ASU’s first shot of the night found its way to the back of the net, when junior forward Cameron Valladares capitalized on a Utes turnover in their own box and sent a rocket past senior keeper Casey Wardle in the 16th minute to equalize the match at one and offer a glimmer of hope for the Sun Devils in the first half. Valladares’ goal was her 6th of the 2024 campaign.

“[Valladares has] been very good for us all season,” Johnson said.“ We know we can use her pace and she’s very direct, which is brilliant.”

Even after Valladares’s goal, Utah remained in control throughout the contest. The Utes never looked uncomfortable despite the near triple-digit heat and an ASU defensive plan that quickly turned frantic as the Sun Devils chased for a second equalizer after Blum – who was exceptional all night – put her side up 2-1 in the 37th minute of play. Rather, Utah challenged the ASU aggression with an unrelenting pressure of their own, successfully speeding up the Sun Devils into rash decisions and critical mistakes that turned into a flurry of shots and eventually two goals in the second half.

“It was Christmas everywhere!” Winkworth said. “We conceded multiple goals from gifts… we’ve got to defend a lot better than we defended today, and one way of defending better is to do a better job in possession of the ball. We didn’t do that today.”

ASU and Utah played chaotic soccer Friday night. Fast, frenetic, and frenzied. But in the wide-open Big 12, a conference defined by those three words, the path is there for the Sun Devils, sitting in 9th with a 2-3-1 conference record, to emerge from the mid-table scrap and solidify themselves as a force come postseason play. ASU will head to the Lone Star State to face Baylor on October 10th at 5 p.m. with a chance to get back to .500 in conference play.

“The great thing about this league is anybody can beat anybody,” Winkworth said. “We’ve got a great opportunity (coming up) on Thursday, and it’s only six days away.”