Referee decisions cause Sun Devil frustration in loss to Houston

Photo courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics

TEMPE – The cliché in sports is that the lone two controllables are attitude and effort. When two teams looking for a postseason berth meet in a high-stakes contest, coaches have historically viewed those two variables as the baseline for execution.

On Sunday, ASU and Houston went to battle looking for three points after a somewhat empty day on Thursday. Both teams’ controllables were on display when the referees made calls that both sides disputed.

The difference was: Houston capitalized while ASU searched for help.

The Sun Devils (7-4-3, 2-3-1 Big 12) fell to the Cougars (8-3-3, 4-2-0 Big 12) in a match that featured chaos, physicality and controversy. Houston scored three goals – one in open play and two from set pieces – to beat ASU 3-2 and climb higher in the Big 12 standings.

There were 25 fouls in the game, with ASU committing 11 of them. Head coach Graham Winkworth and his squad most disagreed with the fourth Sun Devil foul.

In the 25th minute, a multitude of players all went after the ball inside the box; fourth-year midfielder Emmie Ennis aggressively pursued, leading to Houston’s fifth-year forward Adelhia Ghonda falling to the grass. Shortly after her fall, ASU argued that a handball should have been called. The whistle blew, but the ref called a foul that resulted in a penalty kick.

Winkworth disagreed with both the no–handball call and the foul decision.

“I’ve got two appeals for the game, so I’d like to appeal one here [the handball] and the second one [for the foul],” Winkworth said to the referees.

He was told that he could not do that, so he had to pick one. The players were adamant that there was a handball, so they challenged that no-call. The call on the field was confirmed after a lengthy review process, and Ghonda buried the penalty kick to put the Cougars up 2-1.

Winkworth’s frustration was not on that specific sequence. The inconsistency drove his dissatisfaction.

“There was the same foul in the same box in the second half, but my players didn’t go down as dramatically,” Winkworth said. “Because of that, we didn’t get a penalty kick.”

Constantly, the Sun Devils stopped playing without a whistle. On Thursday night’s draw to Iowa State, the one goal ASU conceded came after uproar from its players on the pitch.

As a leader on the team, third-year forward Kierra Blundell recognizes what the problem is.

“A big learning experience is: whenever we don’t get a call, not to throw our hands up,” Blundell said. “Get right back in it and play.”

Against Houston, the main official was seemingly frustrated with the constant debate. Late in the second half, third-year forward Sierra Bergen made an aggressive effort that resulted in a collision with Houston’s third-year goalkeeper Sierra McCluer, and some Cougars had something to say about it.

Bergen pushed her way out of the net in retaliation, resulting in ASU’s third yellow card of the match. Fourth-year defender Natalie Drotzmann and Winkworth also received cards because of their vocal outrage against the refs.

The Sun Devils’ attitude resulted in frustration, added pressure and ultimately conceded a goal. Winkworth wasn’t happy with their effort either.

“It wasn’t good enough today,” Winkworth said. “If we’d put in the type of effort that we did on Thursday night, we could have been comfortable.”

Winkworth and his team are focused on reviewing film and fixing what is not working. With just one point in its last two games, ASU is below the cutoff line in the Big 12. Its next opportunity is Friday, Oct. 16 against Oklahoma State (5-6-3, 1-4-1 Big 12) in Stillwater.

Through the ups and downs, Winkworth recognizes what the preparation has to be like. A lot of it includes the old-fashioned two controllables: attitude and effort.

“We’ve got to be ready to compete and deal with adversity,” Winkworth said.