(Photo: James Powel/WCSN)
The Arizona State women’s soccer team will be kept waiting for a conference play victory. The Sun Devils went to (5-3-2, 0-1-1 Pac-12) after a draw to Utah Thursday night in Tempe.
Coming off a 2-0 loss against a nationally ranked UCLA team, the Sun Devils looked to continue the momentum they gained from outscoring the Bruins in the game’s second half.
ASU barely missed going up 1-0 after a shot by junior forward Jessica Raybe went just left of the post in the 12th minute. Junior forward Jazmarie Mader added another shot on goal two minutes later, also missing left
Mader, still ASU’s leading goal scorer with six, looked to end a short two game scoring drought.
“The first half we were a little discombobulated,” Mader said. “We knew what was happening and we all just needed to come together and talk about.”
ASU had a total of three shots at the 20-minute mark, three more than its Utah opponents. The Sun Devils controlled possession for most of the half, giving the Ute defenders a difficult time.
Neither team, however, was able to find the back in of the net in the early stages of the game. Opportunities for both the Utes and the Sun Devils were all squandered, thanks to a combination of stellar defense and some misfortune.
“In the first half I didn’t feel we were aggressive enough,” head coach Kevin Boyd said. “We’ve been talking about in the attacking half we tend to generate chances”
A yellow card was assessed to junior defender Taylor Coon in the 44th minute, and major consequences for the Sun Devils ensued. The Utes struck first as a result, scoring off a header by redshirt senior midfielder Katie Rogers, courtesy of a free kick from sophomore midfielder Paola Van Der Veen.
Utah took a 1-0 lead into the half, carrying it’s recently gained momentum into the locker room.
The Utes looked composed in the second half, keeping most of their players back, stifling opportunity after opportunity for ASU as they looked to put a stranglehold on their one goal lead and close out the game.
Mader had other ideas in the 82nd minute.
Mader was in perfect scoring position after a beautiful touch, and finally broke through. The Chandler native left Utah’s keeper guessing after a 360, and tied the game up with a swift strike.
“I saw the keeper and I turned,” Mader said. “I saw her close her legs after I already shot it but in my mind I was like wow, if she closes her leg and I miss this goal, I’m in big trouble.”
Neither team got anything going in the final minutes as the game was left to be settled in overtime.
Both the Sun Devils and the Utes endured some heart stopping moments in the first period of sudden death overtime, but the scoreboard remained intact as the two squads entered the second period of extra time.
A potential game winning shot for Natalie Stephens was denied by the cross bar with three minutes left to play in the game. Fatigue began to come into play, as desperate attempts for both teams were turned away as the game ended in a draw.
“Tonight was a hard game,” Boyd said. “I’m not worried if I give them two days off to recover but that doesn’t really progress our game either.”
The Sun Devils will look to notch their first Pac-12 win on Sunday as Colorado comes to Tempe.
