Redshirt junior forward/midfielder Mackenzie Semerad races UCLA's Caprice Dydasco for control of the ball during the game on Sept. 26 in Tempe. ASU tied UCLA 1-1. (Photo by Andrew Ybanez)ASU soccer came up short in the the first leg of their visit to the state of Washington, falling 2-1 to the Washington Huskies and ending its streak of nine consecutive games without a loss.
The Sun Devils ( would get onto the board first, relatively early on too, after a shot by junior midfielder Tommi Goodman in the 11th minute that floated up and under the crossbar, eluding redshirt junior goalkeeper Megan Kufeld. Junior forward Cali Farquharson would be credited with the assist.
“I thought we started well,” head coach Kevin Boyd said. “I thought we were following our game plan. We saw what we expected from our opponent. What they did, they did extremely well.”
Although the Sun Devils seemed to have the upper hand, the Huskies did not give up, finding their first goal just 13 minutes later.
The score would be tied 1-1 after a hard fought first half, with both teams looking to come out strong in the second half. The Sun Devils had areas where in which they noticed needed improvement against the Washington team.
“We knew we were in a battle,” said Boyd. “We needed to tighten up on defense. We needed to improve our attack in a couple areas.”
Both teams would be relentless on offense, with the Sun Devils putting up 11 shots, five of which were on goal, and the Huskies putting up 14 shots, nine of which were on goal.
The best opportunity for the Sun Devils to score in the second half would come from an effort by Farquharson, when she hand an opening, but was thwarted at the last second by a Washington defender, forcing her shot wide, after some contact.
Farquharson is coming off an ankle injury in which she has played reduced minutes in the past two games. Boyd thinks she is doing much better after having a couple days to rest it.
“I thought she looked good,” Boyd said. “She looked very good. She drew a lot of attention.”
The reason why teams choose to put so much pressure on Farquharson is simple: she is a deadly scorer who can do damage in the open field. In her last game against Oregon State, she scored the only goal of the game, brining her season total thus far to 10, once again managing to score in double digits. Farquharson has scored 10 goals in both her freshman and sophomore years, totally 30 goals in her sun devil career.
As the game began to draw to a close, neither team could find the back of the net, making it look like overtime was going to be necessary to prove a victor between these two very good teams. That all changed in the 82nd minute.
Sophomore forward Becca Schoales would score a late goal to put Washington up 2-1 in the waning moments of the game, coming off an assist from sophomore midfielder Miranda Rawlings. ASU made a desperate push final minutes of the game to add the equalizer, but it was to no avail.
“I didn't think we played badly, but I didn't think we played great,” said Boyd. This team is trying to learn the importance of urgency. That’s what we are trying to teach them.”
Now that the teams nine game unbeaten streak is over, the Sun Devils look to the future, trying to make every game count.
“We don't like losing, and we lost a game,” said Boyd. “A loss on the road is still a loss. Our focus now is to go and win on Sunday, try and split our games.”
The Sun Devils play Washington State at 1 p.m. on Oct. 12 in Pullman.
Reach the reporter at mtsteine@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @MarcTSteiner
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