ASU Soccer: Sun Devils Defense Out-Of-Sync in Loss to Oregon State- Analysis

(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)

Tempe, Ariz. – The Sun Devils women’s soccer team (6-7-3, 0-5-2 Pac-12) suffered many defensive lapses and appeared unfocused when in possession of the ball in their 3-1 loss to Oregon State Thursday night.

The Beavers took advantage of multiple miscues from the ASU defense en route to two first half goals, and a comfortable lead for the rest of the match. Although the match appeared pretty one-sided in terms of quality of play, Oregon State grinded to a victory through physical play and a significantly higher level of effort. They took advantage of an unfocused back line that struggled to maintain possession of the ball.

“It should be a standard. It should be an expectation that we play with a certain amount of passion in every single game. It should be a prerequisite and then the skill takes over,” said Sun Devils coach Graham Winkworth. “But hard work overrides talent every day, so we have got to work harder.

“The last 15 minutes of the game when we really worked harder and we wanted to get back into the game, I thought the girls were the better side and looked the more dangerous team. If we started the game that way, it would have been a different result, but we’ve got to work harder.”

The match was tied at zero 37 minutes into the game, with neither side proving to have a legitimate advantage. However, the last seven minutes of the first half saw two Oregon State shots hit the back of the net. Both plays were initiated by interceptions from the ASU defense, as they passed the ball around with a surprising lack of care.

At the end of the first half, both teams shared 50% of the possession, but Oregon State managed to control 56% of their possession in the attacking quarter of the field. This means that Oregon State was in possession of the ball inside or around the ASU 18-yard-box for over 25% of the first half. This shows the lack of build-up play required for the Beavers to create their chances.

“The second one [goal] was very poor defending. Simple. I’ve got no excuse for it. It’s very poor defending. Somebody has just got to get in there and smash it away,” said Winkworth. “When I was growing up I knew what a proper tackle looked like, and we’ve got to put some proper tackles in. When things aren’t going our way, you have to grind, and we’re just not grinding enough and that was disappointing.”

The defense definitely appeared lackadaisical and could not match the intensity nor physical play of Oregon State. Seven different Beaver players recorded fouls in the game and they out-fouled the Sun Devils 13-8. Although fouls might not be a positive statistic in the stat sheet, it can show how hard a team is battling and grinding.

The Sun Devil players admitted that their effort was not present for the entirety of the match. After going down 3-0 with only 20 minutes remaining, it was obvious that their intensity increased in the closing stages of the match. Midfielder Dai Williams able to snag her fifth goal of the season in the final 10 minutes.

However, the Sun Devils do have a history of allowing early goals in their Pac-12 conference games and that trend continued in this match. Coach Winkworth and the girls expressed their frustration for this ongoing bad habit, and attributed many of their losses to lack of focus in the beginning of matches.

“I think a lot of girls haven’t found what drives them yet. And I think that’s just a conversation we need to have again, to be able to come out in the first 10 minutes way harder,” said Sun Devil defender Christina Edwards. “The last 15 [minutes], that’s what it needs to look like the whole night.”

Offensively, the offense was stagnant and could not manage clean possession of the ball due to a lack of runs and players’ willingness to check to the ball. Many players found themselves in tight spots with very few passing options available to them. The flow of their attack was simply not present until the last 15 minutes, and Oregon State took advantage of their slow-moving offense.

“We’ve got to follow instructions and do the simple things, said Winkworth. “Soccer needs to be simple and we’re trying to complicate it by doing too much dribbling and being in the wrong parts of the field, or not showing in the right parts of the field. And we have to listen to simple instructions, implement it and then play with passion on top of that.”

Senior midfielder Kylie Miniefield agreed with Winkworth on their inability to maintain effective possession, but claimed that their struggle to make simple passes came from a lack of effort to get to the ball. There is simply no excuse for the Sun Devils, as Winkworth subbed in six players off the bench: a much higher amount of substitutions than ASU are used to seeing.

“We lacked passion all across the field until the last 15 minutes,” said Miniefield. “It’s not acceptable but it’s the truth, so walking away from this feels really disappointing to me.”

Miniefield hopes that the level of effort will improve moving forward into her last home match at ASU. With only four total games left in the Sun Devils’ season, the intensity must reach a maximum if they want to record their first win in Pac-12 play.

The Sun Devils will take on Oregon for their next match on Sunday at 12 p.m. MST in Sun Devil Stadium. This will be their final home match of the season.