ASU Soccer: Sun Devils tie top-ranked UCLA

(Photo: Trey Lanthier/WCSN)

On Friday, David gave Goliath a scare.

The top-ranked UCLA Bruins women’s soccer team managed to find the back of the net to tie No. 24 Arizona State 1-1 and walk away from an extra time thriller at Sun Devil Stadium with their undefeated record still intact.

“Because we had a lot of down faces, I really liked that we’re bummed out that we didn’t play better and get a win,” ASU head coach Kevin Boyd said.

In the 49^th minute, junior forward Cali Farquharson beat the goalkeeper to put the Sun Devils up 1-0. Freshman forward Aly Moon found Farquharson on a through ball, which created a one-on-one opportunity with UCLA keeper Katelyn Rowland. Farquharson took a touch left past the keeper and tapped the ball into an empty net.

“That was so scary,” Farquharson said. “Because I didn’t plan on dribbling the keeper. My second touch was really long. So I was like ‘Okay, I better just take it to the side,’ and that’s what I ended up doing.”

In the 67^th minute, Bruin forward Rosie White found herself in the right place at the right time to put UCLA level on the scoreboard. ASU goal keeper Chandler Morris parried a shot from a header on the back post away, but the ball fell to the feet of White.

The Bruins changed to a more attacking formation — 3-5-2 — in the second half to give themselves an opportunity to change the game. ASU had been preparing for this tactical system but, Boyd said they still struggled to adjusting to the new scheme.

This changed game plan worked well for UCLA, especially after ASU scored the go-ahead goal.

“Once we scored our goal, we kind of slowed down,” junior center back McKenzie Berryhill said. “And I think that’s what kind of got us. But definitely slowing down and how frantic we were, we couldn’t keep the ball. Once we started talking and realizing we just need to calm down, everybody just got together and we got up from there.”

The game in Tempe was a tale of two different halves. The first half consisted of a chess match between the two squads, but both teams could only muster up one dangerous scoring opportunity each.

In the 22^nd minute, Moon stole the ball from Rowland’s feet about 35 yards out and dropped a five-yard pass to midfielder Tommi Goodman, whose chip shot sailed to the goal line before being cleared away by the Bruin defense.

Later in the 42^nd minute, White found the ball at the 18-yard box with space in front of her. Her first touch traveled too far towards goal, and Morris picked up the ball before there was a chance to shoot.

UCLA controlled most of the second half outshooting Arizona State 18-5. Most shots were heavily contested, and many rebound shots were blocked by Sun Devil defenders. Berryhill described her defense as “relentless” because of the many second-effort blocks she had.

Coming up ASU takes on Oregon and Oregon State Friday and Sunday, respectively next weekend in Tempe.

Game Notes:

UCLA shot 34 times compared to ASU’s 10 shots
Chandler Morris recorded 11 saves
Arizona State kept nine players in front of the ball while defending most of the second half
Both teams recorded one point in conference play
MacKenzie Grossman started at center back and Sara Tosti came in at forward off the bench

You can reach Anthony Prosceno via e-mail at aproscen@asu.edu or on Twitter at @The_A_Pro.