(Photo: Steve Rodriguez/ASU Athletics)
The Sun Devils suffered their third loss in the season Friday night in a close game that ended 1-0 against the University of California.
Despite starting off the night with a strong display of attacking ability, the California Golden Bears beat the Sun Devils to a goal.
In the 12th minute Cal midfielder Thelma Einarsdottir received a low cross from forward Arielle Ship inside of the box and struck it past ASU goalkeeper Chandler Morris.
The Sun Devils did not back down and picked up even more momentum following the goal.
Forward Cali Farquharson beat the Cal back line twice in a span of five minutes, nearly beating the keeper as well on both attempts.
“Honestly, we did well the first half. It was unfortunate that they scored a goal,” Farquharson said.
The rest of the half was played out in a similar fashion.
ASU lead the Golden Bears in shots by a margin of 7-2 and in corners by a margin of 5-0, yet the Sun Devils just could not seem to put one past Cal’s goalkeeper Emily Boyd.
“I think our final passes were a little off tonight,” midfielder Aly Moon said. “It was an off night for us in the final attack.”
ASU came out strong once again in the second half, and quickly put some pressure on Cal’s back line.
Just seven minutes in, Jazmarie Mader opened up the Devils’ shot count for the half with a shot from just outside the box, but Boyd saw it coming and managed to block it.
Just six minutes after that Mader received a cross in front of goal and once again nearly headed it in.
Cal showed their offensive ability in the 68th minute when it almost scored off a corner. Chandler Morris punched the ball into the middle, where the Bears recovered it and shot on the open goal. Thanks to a deflection from McKenzie Berryhill, Morris had just enough time to get back into position.
In the end Arizona State won the shot count, but not the scoreboard.
“We had a couple good chances that we hit and they blocked,” head coach Kevin Boyd said. “One day it may go in, another day it may get blocked.”
You can reach Anthony Marroquin on Twitter @tonymarro11 or email him at aamarroq@asu.edu
