(Photo: Julia Coyne/WCSN)
TEMPE — All Washington State’s redshirt senior defender Keeley Cooper could do at that point was desperately hold and pull Arizona State’s senior forward Gabi Renne back by her arm as Renne accelerated past her into the box. It was the 73rd minute in Sunday’s noon ASU soccer (8-2-4, 3-1-1) match against Washington State (8-5, 1-4), and the Sun Devils attack had been terrorizing the Cougar’s back line for the better part of the last 50 minutes.
Cooper was promptly shown her second yellow card of the match and, per protocol, a red followed, dismissing her from the game. What was bad had turned to worse for WSU and what was good had turned to great for ASU.
Four minutes later in the 78th minute, ASU sophomore forward Enasia Colon slid a pass through the WSU defense to Renne, who slotted the ball to the bottom corner, stamping her name on a quickly lengthening Sun Devil scoresheet.
Before the home fan’s celebration could even fully subside, just 20 seconds later junior forward Keri Mathews was played down the right wing, before crossing the ball to freshman midfielder Ella Opkvitne near the penalty spot. Opkvitne made no mistake in her finish firing the ball through a sea of legs to the bottom left corner increasing the Sun Devil’s lead to 5-1, where it would stand at the final.
The scoreline was a reflection of a complete outclassing and a near-perfect game with only a few mishaps in the eyes of ASU head coach Graham Winkworth.
When asked if there were any negatives that he would take from a game so decidedly won he said “We made one error in the first half and got punished for it, I didn’t see too many others…I thought it was a really good performance.”
The one mistake referenced was in the 21st minute when WSU’s senior forward Margie Detrizio’s deft turn left senior captain defender Lieske Carleer for dead on the right sideline before hoisting the ball into the roof of the net, opening the scoring 1-0 in the Cougar’s favor. The Sun Devil bench, featuring some new additions, saw to it that that moment was the last time any hint of a smile graced the face of any player, coach, or fan of Washington State.
The minute freshman forward Savannah Maley and graduate forward Suzuka Yosue touched the field, ASU was reignited. Graduate forward Florence Vaillancourt joined Opkitvne and Colon in the starting front three with Opkitvne, a natural midfielder, dropping into a false 9 role allowing the Sun Devils to better control the midfield. It was the first time this season that neither Yosue nor Maley featured in the starting lineup.
Both were introduced to the game together, following the 25th-minute water break and immediately imposed their talents on the proceedings. Off the first throw-in in the 26th minute, Yosue, recognizing the open space behind the Cougar defense, got in behind, and crossed the ball to Maley, getting just a foot on the end of the cross which, following multiple deflections off Cougar players, found it’s way into the back of the net equalizing the score at 1-1
Yosue got a goal of her own, converting a penalty early in the second half to establish a 2-1 lead for ASU. Nine minutes later, the Pac-12 assist leader gifted another service when she laid the ball off for freshman defender Emile Simpson who scored her first goal of the season, depositing the ball in the bottom right from 20 yards away doubling the lead to 3-1. Yosue’s impact off the bench was a reflection of her mental preparation and analysis of the game before entering.
“I always prepare myself that when I get a chance to go into the game I always want to make an impact,” Yosue said. “That’s how I prepared my mentality. When I was watching the game from the side I knew there was space in behind so I knew how I could make an impact.”
Yosue’s assist to Simpson, her sixth total of the season, was yet another example of international players making a difference in Tempe. Four of the five goal scorers Sunday all toiled their craft as a youth overseas. Winkworth’s side bolsters a heavy international influence with 16 of 31 players having been born internationally, many in countries with a more rampant youth soccer culture in comparison to the U.S. Something he actively recognizes as a goal in his recruiting cycles.
“What I like about internationals is they’re born with a soccer ball at their feet,” said Winkworth. “They’re so passionate about the game, there’s a lot of high soccer IQ, but there’s a lot of grit and they bring a different style of play.”
