Soccer

Veteran ASU Backline Struggles With Pressure in Third-Straight Loss

TEMPE — Texas Tech junior forward Taylor Zdrojewski received the ball outside the top right of the Sun Devils’ penalty box in the 85th minute. A packed Sun Devil Soccer Stadium’s “A-S-U” chants were silenced as Zdrojewski ripped the ball past Arizona State senior goalkeeper Pauline Nelles for a 3-2 Red Raider lead.

The goal was Zdrojewski’s second of the game, as the recent Big 12 Player of the Week capped off a night of relentless pressure from Texas Tech.

“We were left 1v1 in the center back position for large portions of the game,” Sun Devils’ head coach Graham Winkworth said. “[Zdrojewski] won that 1v1 battle.”

The Arizona State Sun Devils (9-4-2, 2-4-1 Big 12 Conference) fell to their third straight conference loss against the No. 12 Texas Tech Red Raiders (11-1-2, 5-0-2 Big 12) with a 3-2 defeat on Thursday.

Zdrojewski was not the only contributor to a dominating offensive performance by Texas Tech. The team finished with 21 shots, requiring Nelles to make six saves on the night.

That power from the Red Raiders pushed ASU to a scrambling first half. In the first 45 minutes, Texas Tech outshot the Sun Devils 12-1, not allowing ASU to record an attempt on target due to the time it was spending on the defensive side of the field.

“I’m frustrated to lose a game, but our first-half performance deserves a defeat,” Winkworth said.

The Sun Devils had an idea of what they were walking into on Thursday, with Texas Tech being third in the Big 12 in goals. The Red Raiders showed off their depth, with eight different players putting shots forward in the game.

After seeing the opposing offensive strength, ASU started faster in the second half, quickly knotting up the game 2-2. In addition to more offensive production, the defense did not allow a shot on goal in the second half until the 70th minute.

“What I said to [the team] was that there was one player in the locker room, that I felt personally, could hold their head up high from the first half performance,” Winkworth said.

When Winkworth went around the room quizzing the team on who that may be, everyone had the same answer.

“That’s the problem right there,” Winkworth said. “When you can all come up with the same player, that means 10 others aren’t doing their jobs properly… [Senior midfielder] Peyton Marcisz was the best player on the pitch tonight and was unbelievable.”

Marcisz’s two-point night was not enough to push the Sun Devils toward victory. Despite her assistance in the midfield, defensive blunders still cost ASU its fourth conference loss in 2025.

In the 30th minute of play, Texas Tech redshirt senior defender Macy Blackburn drove up the right side of the field, and as she neared the box, she made a quick cross to junior forward Storie Sexton, who got a 1-on-1 down low.

Sexton put the ball past Nelles, who stretched out in an effort to prevent the insurance goal.

The feed itself flew by ASU senior forward Tatum Thomason and junior defender Lucy Fazackerley, a ball that not only got through multiple Sun Devils nearby, but one that led to a Red Raider attacker with no one between her and Nelles.

However, Nelles’ three allowed goals were nothing to hang her head on.

“Pauline is a great goalkeeper,” Winkworth said. “She had another good performance, but that’s just Pauline. That’s her job. She’d tell you that as well.”

In addition to Nelles, ASU has a veteran backline that includes senior defenders Fazackerly, Grace Gillard, Ava Wright, Meighan Farrell, Izzy Monck and Dann Louwerse. This defensive depth has shown its strength all year, as Thursday was just the second time they have allowed three goals in a single game, with the only other time coming against the UCF Knights in their first loss of the year. However, they have a tough stretch of games looming ahead.

With just five competitions left to turn Big 12 play around, the Sun Devils will need to play like they did in the second half of Thursday. A part of this current tough stretch, which has included a loss to the then-No. 24 Colorado Buffaloes, is the fact that ASU has one home game remaining versus the No. 14 TCU Horned Frogs.

“It’s tough because we’re the only team in the Big 12 that travels [four] straight weekends,” Winkworth said. “Only one other team has three. Nobody else has got more than two… Some horrendous scheduling from the league… I don’t get to argue it or fight it… I said my piece to the league and that was that. We have to get on with it and just hold our heads up and just keep fighting.”