(Photo: Patricia Vicente/WCSN)
The beating drums, chanting fans, and roar of the Inferno were all on the Sun Devils’ side Friday night. Despite all the home crowd’s efforts the team never got into a consistent rhythm on offense.
The University of Arizona Wildcats (8-5-1) won a comfortable game at Sun Devil Stadium defeating the Arizona State Sun Devils (8-4-2) 2-0. In the biggest game of the season, ASU failed to match Arizona’s aggression and intensity.
The Wildcats’ physical and fierce style of play effectively disrupted the Sun Devil’s possession. Its relentless pressure led to numerous passes going astray and out of bounds for ASU. Short passes became difficult and the players moved in the opposite direction when receiving the ball but the team’s chemistry was never in question for head coach Graham Winkworth. Instead, he gives his opponent credit for interrupting his team’s passing ability.
“It’s a condensed pitch which we liked, but when you play Arizona they work extremely hard,” Winkworth said. “They don’t give you a second to play and so you have to play quickly. Unfortunately, we weren’t sharp enough with our passes today.”
The physicality bolstered the Wildcats, fueling them in each attack on ASU’s backline. Arizona finished with 14 shots with eight on target. The normally steady defense was carved up by Arizona’s fast forwards. Sophomore goalkeeper Giulia Cascapera kept her team alive for most of the game but the offense turned over the ball too much.
“They’re a really physical team. I wouldn’t say that’s also our strength,” junior midfielder Alexia Delgado said. “We’re more like a soccer positional team, but you have to play every single game the best you can, and also you’re in the Pac-12 where every team is extremely difficult, so we just again got to keep working and see where we can improve as a team.”
Arizona State’s offense failed to get on the scoreboard for its third consecutive game. Playing against the physical and aggressive Wildcats, ASU had nine shots total with four on goal.
The offensive struggles stemmed from having less of the ball. Arizona controlled the game picking out passes and splitting ASU’s defense right down the middle. The first goal of the game came in the 15th minute when a ball passed in between the Sun Devil’s center backs found senior forward Jada Talley as she sped past the defenders and scored.
“Arizona defended well so credit to Arizona,” Winkworth said. “We were struggling to get in behind them a little bit, but credit to Arizona for defending extremely well.”
Sophomore forward Dai Williams was the Sun Devils’ best weapon on the front line, taking on defenders with her pace and looking for her teammates in the box. After Williams blew by the defenders she couldn’t quite find her teammates in the box with an accurate pass.
The Sun Devils started the second half with more fight and urgency than previously shown in the first half. The forwards made strong runs and the midfielders connected passes but the Wildcats had an answer and quickly put out ASU’s brief spark. After a long throw-in, the Arizona State defense bobbled the bouncing ball and senior forward Jill Aguilera pounced on the miscue and poked in her team’s second goal of the night.
Despite the loss, Winkworth quickly shifted his focus to the NCAA tournament. Given its impressive record with wins over top-ranked teams, confidence is high in the Sun Devil program.
“So this year we’ve not lost to anybody poor,” Winkworth said. “So I think we’ve got a pretty good resume. I’m pretty proud of the team and how far they’ve come the last 18 months.”
The Sun Devils have to wait until Monday to see if they can grab a spot and extend their season into the postseason for the first time since 2014.
