(Photo By: Maya Diaz/ WCSN)
WACO – On Thursday night, the Arizona State soccer team traveled to Waco, Texas, to take on the Baylor Bears. The Sun Devils looked to rebound after a discouraging 4-1 loss at home against the Utah Utes. However, ASU conceded another four goals in this game without scoring one, dropping this game 4-0.
The Sun Devils’ conference record falls to 2-4-1, tied for ninth place in the conference with both Cincinnati and Kansas. This loss for ASU leaves a lot of talking points around their performance in Texas.
Strong Opening Ten Minutes Leads to Nothing
For much of the opening ten minutes, the Sun Devils were deep in Baylor’s half, whether or not they possessed the ball. ASU put a lot of pressure on the Bears’ backline and forced multiple turnovers during this span.
“We started the game really well,” in a halftime interview on ESPN+, Sun Devils head coach Graham Winkworth said. “I thought we were creating a lot of chances.”
ASU’s ruthless press on Baylor’s backline led to a flurry of opportunities for ASU’s attack. One of the most important cogs in the press was junior forward Cameron Valladares. She created several chances in this early stretch, and multiple times set up freshman forward Kierra Blundell in good positions to take shots.
However, even with Valladares’ creativity, Blundell and the Sun Devil attack only tallied four shots on goal, with none making it past junior goalkeeper Azul Alvarez. Blundell had two shots in quick succession from the right side but on both occasions, Alvarez prevented the freshman from opening the scoring. Even with the four shots, it felt like ASU could have had plenty more, but multiple sloppy passes ended those possibilities.
Compared to how the Sun Devils have looked going forward, the opening 10 minutes of this match looked like a step in the right direction. However these were ASU’s best chances of the match, and the Sun Devils couldn’t find a way to rekindle this attacking spark for the rest of the match.
A large part of Baylor’s ability to grow into the match is down to the Bears scoring a goal against the run of play and defensive adjustments. Coinciding with their adjustments, senior defender Ava Colberg grew into the match. She was able to shut down Valladares on the right wing.
Sun Devil Set Piece Struggles Prolong
Coming into Thursday’s game, ASU had already conceded six goals from set pieces, four coming from corners, and then two more from free kicks.
The Bears notched three corner kicks within the first ten minutes of play and finally found the opening goal in the 11th minute. Junior forward Tyler Isgrig played the ball to the near post for Baylor but never found one of her teammates. The ball instead found the head of Sun Devil freshman midfielder Addison Haws, deflecting into the back of the net.
Haws didn’t have the reach on her jump, and the ball went off the back of her head, and past senior goalkeeper Pauline Nelles.
“Set pieces have been our Achilles heel all season long,” Winkworth said. “It’s very frustrating to concede that goal.”
Then within five minutes of the start of the second half, freshman midfielder Ella Kettles took down graduate midfielder Ashley Merrill, giving Baylor a free kick in a dangerous position. Isgrig would take it again for the Bears, playing a ball right on the penalty spot for junior defender Hannah Augustyn. Augustyn was the only player to jump for the header, including ASU’s defenders, and easily headed the ball home for Baylor’s third goal of the night.
Whether it’s been players being left unmarked, or taller forwards overpowering the Sun Devils’ backline, ASU has had more than its fair share of struggles defending set pieces. To restore its hopes of qualifying for a third-straight NCAA tournament, the Sun Devils’ defense will need to find a way to defend these set pieces.
Away Form Continues to Hurt ASU
The Sun Devils’ away record falls to 2-2-1, which looks good on paper, but ASU has struggled mightily for large periods of its five away games.
Its away schedule opened with a resounding 5-2 win over the LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge, but since it has been difficult to pick up results for the Sun Devils. In Big-12 play, ASU lost their first away game against the BYU Cougars, with an error on a set piece leading to the game’s only goal. The attack struggled for a large part of this match, which has proven to be a common theme for Sun Devil away trips.
ASU did pick up a 2-0 win away to the Houston Cougars, but that match proved to be an easy win over an inferior opponent, as Houston is still looking for their first conference win of the season. On that same away trip, the Sun Devils traveled to Orlando, Florida, to take on the UCF Knights, where ASU battled but only managed a tie. The Sun Devils’ defense turned up big against the Knights, but again the attack struggled for large periods of the match, even with multiple late chances to win.
Thursday night was a similar story for ASU, as they again struggled away from Tempe. Even with the strong start, the Sun Devils let the Bears back into the match, following a set piece goal, and a massive miscommunication along the backline leading to Baylor’s second goal of the first 45 minutes. Sophomore forward Callie Conrad played a beautiful cross into the middle for Merrill, who easily put the ball into the back of the net.
Then in the second half, it was a very similar sequence of events. Set piece goal early, before Baylor’s press forced junior defender Meighan Farrell into playing a bad pass, and with Nelles off her line, it was a simple finish for Conrad.
With only four matches remaining in the regular season, ASU will need to find form fast to qualify for the Sprouts Farmers Market Big-12 Soccer Championship. Next for the Sun Devils, they’ll head to Fort Worth, Texas, to take on the TCU Horned Frogs on Sunday at 11:00 a.m. AZT.
