(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)
Casey Martinez did not take a shot this afternoon. Nicole Douglas did not find the back of the net on her three shots. The Arizona State depth was not on display, with coach Graham Winkworth only bringing three players off the bench. And a goal conceded seconds before halftime did not end up costing the Sun Devils any points.
In a game that bucked all of this season’s trends, Arizona State women’s soccer (7–5–1, 2–3–1 Pac-12) came from behind to defeat 22-ranked Washington State (10–4–0, 3–4–0 Pac-12) by a 3–1 scoreline at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium.
Marleen Schimmer and Eva Van Deursen scored the tying and winning goals, respectively, for Arizona State, while Natalie Stephens added a consolation goal late on. Substitute Molly Myers had initially given Washington State the lead just before halftime.
The first half had been a slow, cagey affair for much of the first 44 minutes, with only small moments of excitement to break up the monotony.
For a time, it appeared that the teams would combine for their last shot of the half in the 37 minute. Myers, however, decided to change that. Her left-footed strike from 18 yards out snuck through three Sun Devil defenders before beating Nikki Panas in the ASU goal, giving the Cougars the lead with 14 seconds to play in the half.
Arizona State came out of halftime a bit slow, with just one shot in the first ten minutes of the half. It would take the Sun Devils just 10 minutes of the second half, however, to completely break the match open.
“Once we played a little bit more soccer, and didn’t send it long, we were very good,” coach Winkworth said. “[At halftime, I told them] that they needed to stop being pushed around…we weren’t winning enough fifty-fifty balls…in the second half I think we matched them physically.”
After a foul on Washington State in the 73 minute, Marleen Schimmer stood over a free kick 25 yards from goal. Her strike snuck below the Cougar wall and beat Emma Dahline in goal, tying the match up and flipping the momentum in the Sun Devils’ favor.
It took less than five minutes for Arizona State to tie, courtesy of Eva Van Deursen in the 78 minute.
With a long run down the left side by Jemma Purfield, the captain swung in a low cross to the edge of the six-yard box and the foot of Van Deursen. The freshman tapped it in from close range, giving the Sun Devils a lead they would not relinquish.
“We got told that if we get on the ball higher up as wing-backs, there’s going to be space in behind their back four,” Purfield said. “If I can get [the ball] in behind, there’ll be runners onto it, so I put it in behind, it was a fantastic run from Eva, and a great finish.”
The insurance goal came in the 82 minute, as senior Natalie Stephens tallied her first goal of her senior season. An ambitious long-range effort went off the crossbar, but was collected four yards from goal by Douglas. Her ball back across goal set up Stephens with an empty net, and the forward roofed the tap-in to secure the victory.
“[The goal]’s been a long time coming,” Stephens said. “I’ve been training my [butt] off, and so it was really exciting for me. Having all my teammates and coaches to support me along the way, it was great.”
The match was delayed for a prolonged period in the late stages of the second half after Washington State’s Maddy Haro went down hard following a challenge. The native of Corona, California was immobilized and brought off the pitch in an ambulance.
In goal, Nikki Panas made three saves for Arizona State while rarely being tested after the Cougar goal.
On the other side, Emma Dahline made her first career start for Washington State. The junior made seven saves in just her second career appearance.
“We kept a clean sheet second half, so that’s good,” said Panas. “The [Washington State] goal was a deflection, so there’s no reason to blame [anyone]. A goal’s a goal, and the girls definitely made it up.”
Arizona State will return to action on Sunday, playing host to the Washington Huskies that begins at 1:00 p.m. The Sun Devils will then go on the road, visiting Oregon and Oregon State in a four-day span next week.
Additionally, the Sun Devils have rescheduled their home match against Stanford that was postponed due to rain. That fixture, originally scheduled for October 13, has been moved to the end of the regular season and will now be played at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 4.
