(Photo: Hailey Sasnett)
Arizona State Women’s Soccer (7-3-3, 3-3-1 Pac-12) defeated the Washington State Cougars 2-0 (8-4-3, 2-3-2 Pac-12) Thursday in Pullman despite being outshot 32-8 in the match.
It may not have shown on the scoreboard, but the Cougars thoroughly outplayed the Sun Devils in the first 18 minutes of the match. Washington State had six shot attempts, two of which were on goal before the Sun Devils had their first, which happened to also be on goal.
ASU has been outshot in three of its last four matches with the exception being against USC when it outshot the Trojans 21-15. The trend continued against the Cougars in the first 18 minutes of action.
There was only one shot on goal for the rest of the first half. However, the Sun Devils allowed 11 shot attempts in the first 45 minutes, marking the second consecutive half that they allowed double-digit shot attempts dating back to the second half against Utah when they allowed 13 shot attempts.
Another trend that continued was the Sun Devils being more aggressive than their opponent in back-to-back matches. They had six fouls compared to Washington State’s four fouls on Thursday. Against Utah, ASU committed 12 fouls compared to its opposition’s eight fouls in the last match.
The Cougars also took advantage in the first half on corner kicks, obtaining seven attempts compared to the Sun Devils’ two. Washington State was unable to take advantage of this discrepancy as the score was still 0-0 at halftime.
The Sun Devils started the second half strong with a goal from graduate forward Olivia Nguyen to break the scoreless tie 1-0 in the 50th minute. Junior defender Lucy Johnson crossed the ball to Nguyen in the box, who finished into the bottom right portion of the goal off the right foot.
Washington State nearly tied it up in the 67th minute, but the play was called offside, marking its second of the match. ASU was disciplined in that facet of the match as it did not get called offsides at all in the match.
Graduate forward Nicole Douglas was awarded her second yellow card of the season in the 74th minute. This was the first and only yellow card for either side in the match. Junior forward Hannah Leitner scored later in the 74th minute off an assist from graduate midfielder Eva van Deursen to cement the lead at 2-0, which happened to be the final score.
The Cougars may have outshot the Sun Devils 32-8, but ASU still managed to outscore Washington State. A major reason why is ASU had five of its eight shots on goal, which is significantly more accurate than Washington State’s 32-shot attempts on goal.
Freshman goalkeeper Pauline Nelles had a clean sheet with seven saves, which makes it two straight games without allowing a goal. Nelles was one of the most highly touted freshmen the Sun Devils recruited in some time and has proved it over the last few matches.
Douglas did not score a point again in the match, which means it has been six matches since her last assist, and remains goalless in Pac-12 play. This is a significant development considering Douglas was one of the NCAA leading scorers last season and had a strong start to this season.
ASU has hopes of playing in the postseason and this win certainly helps its chances. The Sun Devils hope to carry the momentum from this victory to Sunday when they face the Washington Huskies in Seattle.
