(Photo: James Powel/WCSN)
The Arizona State women’s soccer team (5-4-2, 0-2-1 Pac-12) lost to the University of Colorado Buffaloes (9-3, 3-0) 1-0 at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium Sunday afternoon.
Early in the first half, ASU got a scoring chance on a pass from Jazmarie Mader that found Jessica Raybe in the box. Raybe was pushed down from behind in the box, but the refs let them play in a controversial no-call.
The rest of the first half saw very few quality chances, as fouls were much more common than shots. ASU managed only two shots, both on goal, but was called for eight fouls.
“We were playing great balls in behind,” head coach Kevin Boyd said, “but it was wet, they kept running away from us and we weren’t catching them. But we were, I thought, very very close to getting a hold of one of those.”
Colorado struck first, scoring with just over thirty seconds left in the first half.
On a pass into the box, senior ASU defender Mckenzie Grossman collided with one of Colorado’s attackers going for the ball. Grossman injured her head on the play and needed to be carted off the field.
However, the play resulted in a free kick for Colorado, which freshman midfielder Taylor Kornieck ripped into the net from the top of the box.
“I thought [the free kick] was going to be for us,” coach Boyd said. “There was nothing in there other than our two players hitting each other. And, no, he overruled everything and gave them a set piece, direct kick, at the top of the eighteen.”
In the second half, the Sun Devils had to regroup after a gruesome injury to their senior defender.
“We were just focused on coming out strong and testing the keeper,” said senior midfielder Lucy Lara, “because we obviously didn’t test the keeper that much in the first half. Obviously our prayers were with [Mckenzie Grossman], but at the same time we were like ‘we need to do this for her’.”
Arizona State didn’t turn up the heat until the last fifteen minutes of the half. They notched several scoring chances, highlighted by a Natalie Stephens scissor-kick from the middle of the box that freshman Colorado goalie Jalen Tompkins had to dive to save.
“I’m just trying to get over that hump and get that first goal in,” sophomore forward Natalie Stephens said. “It’s just super frustrating getting so many post hits, and things like that, and I really wanted to score on [Tompkins], me and her played club together, so that was fueling me as well, so it was tough.”
Additionally, Colorado came close to doubling its lead on another free kick by Kornieck in the 60th minute, as her shot bounced off the left post.
The Sun Devils will return to action Thursday, when they visit the Washington Huskies at 4:00 p.m. The game will be streaming live on Pac-12 Networks.
