ASU’s attack falters in 1-1 draw with Iowa State

Photo courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics

TEMPE – The last echo from the crossbar summed up the game for Arizona State soccer.

Fifth-year midfielder Peyton Marcisz struck the ball with just 20 seconds left, arriving late in the middle of the box as the ball rolled gently back towards her. With an almost certain goal ahead, Marcisz hit the bar, making it the second time the Sun Devils were denied by the woodwork.

In the Sun Devils (7-3-3, 2-2-1 Big 12) first of six straight home games, they hosted Iowa State (4-5-4, 0-3-2 Big 12) in a one-sided showing that ended in a 1-1 draw. With ASU controlling the majority of the possession and time in the opponent’s half, the 1-1 result came as a letdown.

After being held to just five shots in their game prior, the Sun Devils controlled the game against the Cyclones, posting 29 shots. The Sun Devils began on the front foot with 16 shots in the first half, before first-year defender Mya Angus opened the scoring in the 17th minute.

With the opening goal coming from a corner, the offensive efficiency from set pieces continued, but the glaring number of missed chances in open play seemed to seal ASU’s fate. After conceding an equalizer after a defensive lapse in the 31st minute, breaking down the low block in open play remained the struggle throughout the remaining hour.

Head coach Graham Winkworth has emphasized the importance of turning half of their shots into shots on target. While the Sun Devils had less than that ratio, ASU still managed to hit the woodwork twice and force 10 saves from the Cyclones’ goalkeeper.

“We created enough good quality chances from really good soccer to be 3-0 up and we failed to score the goals, so we got punished for that by tying 1-1,” Winkworth said.

In the 74th minute, ASU drew a straight red card off a hair pull that put them up a player for the remaining 15 minutes with the score dead even at 1-1. What seemed to be a heavy advantage with plenty of time remaining actually closed down the space for the Sun Devils and made the frantic last moments of the game much more difficult.

“There was less space in the areas we were already being unsuccessful in, so it didn’t really help,” Winkworth said. “Saying that, we’ve hit the crossbar I don’t know how many times today and we should have finished better.”

In these rough patches, Marcisz looks ahead optimistically, hoping to maintain quality in some aspects while raising the level in their areas of struggle.

“I think just focusing on the fact that we played a good game of soccer, we were trying different things and that was helping us take shots,” Marcisz said. “Just because we didn’t finish doesn’t mean we should switch the way we’re playing necessarily, you know, keeping a positive mindset, we still had a lot of shots, a lot of attacking moments.”

The offensive inefficiency without set pieces has loomed over the Sun Devils all season and while the shots and opportunities come, the results haven’t.

“We just have to control what we can control, control our own fate,” Marcisz said. “If a team goes and ties up the game it has nothing to do with us not finishing our chances, that’s just on us. So we have to take accountability for that, kind of go into the next game like, ‘Ok, we can control what we can control,’ kind of put our heads down and just keep working, keep trying.”

After beginning a long stretch of home games, the Sun Devils host Houston (7-3-3, 3-2-0 Big 12) on Sunday, who sit in the top half of the Big 12 ahead of their matchup.