ASU Soccer: Sun Devils pick up critical road victory

(Photo: Matt Harden/WCSN)

The Arizona State soccer team picked up a 2-1 road victory over Colorado on Sunday afternoon.

The Sun Devils (8-8-1, 4-5-1 Pac-12) got off to a strong start opening up the scoring in the seventh minute when sophomore forward Jessica Raybe collected a flick header from sophomore forward Aly Moon. Raybe then nutmegged her defender in the box and with only the keeper to beat, she gave ASU the lead with a nice near-post finish.

After the goal, Colorado put the Sun Devil defense to work by pressing numbers forward and constantly keeping pressure up, however were unable to score in the first half.

In the 59th minute, ASU extended its lead to 2-0 when senior midfielder/defender McKenzie Berryhill chased down a ball into the box which forced Scheele to come off her line. With the two in a footrace for the ball Scheel and Berryhill both slid towards the ball Berryhill got their first but Scheele deflected it. Scheele got up and chased the ball which rolled to Moon who crossed it into the box to an open Berryhill who headed it into an open net.

In the 67th minute, Colorado continued with the interesting tactics as six players were substituted at once. With more than half the team being substituted, the offensive spark Colorado was looking for came to them as they scored off a set piece in the 74th minute. Junior defender Alex Huynh crossed the ball into a very crowded box, and senior defender Heather Ward headed the ball past Morris who seemed to claim that a Colorado player prevented her from reaching the ball.

With Colorado now having life in the game, the pressure they were putting on in the first half came back as they nearly equalized two minutes after scoring. Junior forward Brie Hooks made a solo run into the box going past several ASU defenders but her near post shot was parried by Morris.

In the 78th minute senior midfielder Whitney Kanavel had to be helped off the field with an apparent knee injury as a late challenge from senior midfielder Olivia Pappalardo caused Kanavel to go down and not return to the game.

With the game winding down Colorado made a good offensive effort to try and get a late equalizer but the Sun Devil defense was too much for Colorado and ASU took the victory 2-1.

The Sun Devils head to Tucson next Friday to play Arizona at 6 p.m. for the final game of the regular season.