(Photo: Karli Mathias/WCSN)
Arizona State suffered another devastating loss in Pac-12 play Friday night.
In their first home Pac-12 conference game of the season, the Sun Devils struggled against Oregon, falling to the Ducks 14-6 at the Sun Devil Soccer/Lacrosse Stadium.
ASU’s offense shot just 23 percent, while it’s defense let up 14 goals and 26 attempts on goal as the team fell to 5-3 and 0-2 in Pac-12 play.
“Our first Pac-12 game out home, I think an exciting one for the fans,” ASU Coach Courtney Martinez Connor said. “Unfortunately, it didn’t translate for a win for us, but as we talk about with our team, it’s baby steps of getting better and better. And that is our focus.”
The Sun Devils started poorly, going down 7-0 to the Ducks (4-2, 2-1 Pac-12) with 11 minutes left in the first half. The Ducks started the scoring in the first 32 seconds of the game when Jill Zubillaga found the back of the net. Oregon’s Shannon Williams had four goals on the night as well.
After a bright 5-1 start to the season, the Sun Devils have lost their first two conference games by a combined 28-9.
“I think the level of play is the biggest difference,” goalkeeper Berkley Bonneau said of Pac-12 play. “When we were going against Kennesaw and Stetson we were putting up double digits, and when we went against USC in our first Pac-12 game, we only scored three. “
Before the half, freshman attacker Taylor Carson fired one home for the Sun Devils, leaving the score 7-1 at the intermission.
The Sun Devils tried to mount a second-half rally, stealing a page out of Oregon’s book by scoring less than a minute into the period on a goal from freshman attacker Julia Burns. After five Oregon goals, Kerri Clayton scored her 29th goal of the season later in the half to cut the deficit to 12-4.
However, the Ducks took a 14-4 lead with about five minutes to play, which led to a running clock by mercy rule.
Arizona State struggled with fouls on Friday too, finishing with 20 in the game and a yellow card that was assessed to Burns.
Sophomore midfielder Avery Hamill did score twice in the final minutes to pick up a hat-trick on the night.
“I feel good. I think that we picked it up together as a team in the second half,” Hamill said. “I wish that we could have come back and tightened the score.”
But, the Ducks had an answer for every Sun Devils goal in the second half. The late offense was too late for ASU to overcome its first-half struggles.
The Sun Devils look to get a win in conference play against No. 15 Colorado (5-2) on Sunday, at Sun Devil Soccer/Lacrosse Stadium at 11 a.m.
