ASU Women’s Soccer: Sun Devils fail to find target against Utes in conference opener

(Photo: WCSN/ Nicholas Badders)

Arizona State women’s soccer squad failed to find the target during Friday’s tie against the Utah Utes to open up Pac-12 play.

The Lady Sun Devils had a total of 17 shots with only six of them on goal and only two of those six actually finding the back of the net.

Needless to say, it didn’t matter if the Sun Devils managed to salvage one point in the tie, they were frustrated with their performance as the game progressed.

“It’s frustrating because we had a ton of chances,” captain Kylie Miniefield said.

Miniefield is entering her fifth year with ASU and understands the importance of these conference games when it comes down to the end of the season.

The Sun Devils have managed to outshoot their opponents 169-79 this season. However, only 63 of those shots have actually been on goal, while their opponents have come together to shoot 41 of those 79 shots on goal.

Out of those 63 shots for the Sun Devils, they have managed to find the target and convert 28 times, averaging 2.80 goals per game, which ranks third in the Pac-12.

“We need to take our chances when we have them,” Minifeield said. “We can’t just waste our shots on goal.”

Despite scoring the first ASU goal of conference play, sophomore Alexia Delgado expressed some of the frustration that the team feels.

“I was glad to come out on the field and help my teammates,” Delgado said. “But it wasn’t the result we wanted. We’re not happy with it.”

Delgado’s goal came in the first half to tie things up with the Utes before fellow teammate Marlene Shimmer lasered one past the enemy goalkeeper 40 minutes later to give the Sun Devils a brief 2-1 lead. The Utes would respond less than 15 minutes later on a penalty kick, which would result in the final 2-2 draw.

Shimmer leads the team with 45 shots and only 10 shots on net, with four of those resulting in goals. During Friday’s match, she led the team with 8 shots alone, which made up a little less than half of the team’s total shots.

The Sun Devils will have to sharpen their executions on goal with Pac-12 play underway, especially in a conference where only three out of 12 teams allow more than one goal per game. ASU is one of those three teams.

This something no one has to tell ASU twice.

“We have got to put the ball in the back of the net,” head coach Graham Winkworth said. “We’ve scored in every game so far, but we are not being clinical enough.”

Sun Devils will continue conference play against the University of Southern California on Thursday at 7 p.m. MST at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium in Tempe.