ASU Soccer: Sun Devils outwork Utes but fall short 2-0 in first conference loss

(Photo: Harrison Zhang/WCSN)

Arizona State’s (6-3-1) unbeaten streak in Pac-12 play has come to an end after a 2-0 loss to Utah (4-6-1) on Sunday afternoon. This marks Utah’s first Pac-12 win of the season and their first victory in Tempe in program history.

Both teams held many scoring opportunities that left the crowd of 915 at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium on their toes all game. Especially with almost an equal amount of fans cheering on both teams.

Without freshman phenom Nicole Douglas, who is currently away on international duty for the U-19 England team, the Sun Devils could not get past Utah netminder Carly Nelson to get on the scoreboard.

“Obviously when you love your top goal scorer, it’s a challenge,” said Winkworth.

While ASU wasn’t able to produce a goal, they did have a number of chances and came close to putting one in the back of the net.

The Sun Devils outshot the Utes 19 to 11 with nine shots on goal and received three times as many corner kicks as Utah.

For defender Jemma Purfield, it was her most impressive game for the Sun Devils as she played all 90 minutes, tallying six shots and three of those on goal. Purfield’s shots on goal made up for a third of the team’s shots on goal.

“They’re good,” said Purfield. “They’re a talented team… you have to credit Utah for their performance.”

This talented Utah team that Purfield praises scored a goal 13 seconds before the end of the first half to open up scoring. Senior midfielder Paola Van Der Veen kicked home her fifth goal of the season to give the Utes the 1-0 lead just before the 45-minute mark.

“It’s never good,” said Purfield about the goal late in the first half. “Especially that close to the half… It is tough to bounce back from that.”

Utah’s goalkeeper Nelson earned her fourth clean sheet of the season with nine saves throughout the 90-minute effort.

ASU soccer head coach Graham Winkworth could be seen pacing in front of the Sun Devil bench with his arms crossed towards the end of the game, showing clear signs of frustration about his team being down by two goals late into the second half.

“I’m not even worried about the score,” said Winkworth in relation to the loss against Utah.

However, he did touch on the fact that his team had 11 fouls in comparison to Utah’s two fouls in the whole game.

“Once they [Utah] scored the goal, it was really difficult to break them down,” said Winkworth. “It starts getting into a kick-fest [being down] and that’s not really our game, but we’re not here to tie, we’re here to win matches.”

Looking to put this loss behind them, the team looks to bounce back on the road next weekend where they are 3-0-0.

“We have got to make sure we come back with a positive performance on Thursday,” said Winkworth, who is aware of the tough road they have ahead of them as conference play continues.

The Sun Devils will travel to southern California next to face UCLA at 5 pm on Thursday and USC on Sunday at 12 pm.