(Photo: Valeria Rodriguez/WCSN)
Just one week ago junior midfielder Olivia Nguyen scored her first career goal as a Sun Devil in the team’s season opener against the University of Texas at El-Paso — On Thursday, she scored her second career goal in extra time to lead the Sun Devils (3-0-0) to a 3-2 victory over the Grand Canyon University Antelopes (0-3-0).
The atmosphere at GCU Stadium was different than the Sun Devils had experienced in their previous two home games at Sun Devil Stadium. There were fans in the stands who were cheering, booing and banging drums throughout the entirety of the game.
The Sun Devils got out to a quick start with Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week, forward Nicole Douglas facilitating perfect passes to her teammates, but the first goal was unassisted coming from senior forward Olive Jones in the 5th minute.
ASU then struggled and went down 2-1 after conceding two goals on plays that developed rather quickly in the first half. However, the Sun Devils came out of halftime with a little more fight.
Junior forward Vildan Kardesler played a huge role in the second half surge for the Sun Devils, scoring the game tying goal in the 76th minute off the assist by Douglas. Kardesler was subbed off right after her goal in favor of Olivia Nguyen, but she came back on just a few minutes later.
The Sun Devils continued to out possess the Lopes by a solid margin, and the game went to extra time tied at two goals apiece. The game remained tied until about 94 minutes into the game, when Vildan Kardesler dribbled into the box and took the Sun Devils first shot of extra time and it went straight into the goalpost. The ball rebounded into the feet of Olivia Nguyen, where she was able to strike the ball into the net, and celebrate with the team as they were victorious for the third time this season.
Coach Graham Winkworth was satisfied with his team’s victory.
I thought we showed a lot of patience and continued to create chances,” Winkworth said. “I am happy to get a positive result because it is never easy when you’re playing in a rivalry match across town.”
The Sun Devils finished with 29 shots, and 17 shots on target. They also amassed more than 10 corner kicks in a game for the first time since Sept. 2, 2018. Next up for the Sun Devils is a home game against GCU at Sun Devil Stadium on Sunday, where they look to continue their dominance and start out 4-0-0.
