The ASU women's soccer team split its first two home games of the season last weekend by losing to No. 3 Texas, 1-0, on Friday before beating UNC-Charlotte, 1-0, on Sunday.
The Sun Devils (2-2-0) hung tough with Texas (3-0-0) throughout the entire first half Friday and went into the locker room tied 0-0.
The Longhorns got on the board in the second half when freshman forward Nikki Arlitt scored the first goal of her collegiate career off a pass from freshman midfielder Brooke Lee during the 51st minute of play.
"We didn't clear [the ball] wide," Boyd said. "We stayed central, we played it on the ground and they collected and tucked it in our goal."
The Sun Devils had their share of scoring chances throughout the entire game, but couldn't find the back of the net.
"We just couldn't capitalize on our offense," sophomore goalkeeper Briana Silvestri said. "We should have punished them multiple times at the goal but we couldn't finish."
For the second game in a row, ASU fared better in most of the statistical categories as the Sun Devils recorded nine shots to the Longhorns' five and had five corner kicks to Texas' one.
"We're coming out of that winning on the stat sheet on everything but the goals," Boyd said. "The difference was they stuck it in the net and we didn't."
Boyd also said that the youth and inexperience of the team contributed to Texas having their opportunities to score.
"We made a couple little young errors that led them to their good chances and we're still trying to get rid of those," he said. "As soon as we get rid of those we're going to be a hard team to beat."
The Sun Devils did suffer one major loss as freshman starting forward Erica Long suffered a torn ACL during the first half of the game and is out for the rest of the season.
Long will not lose a year of eligibility because the injury qualifies her for a hardship waiver.
"The good news is we get her for four more years," Boyd said. "The bad news is we don't have her this year."
Despite the loss to the Longhorns, Boyd said that Friday's game was the best game the team had played all season and that it had a great chance to come away with the victory.
"I'm not saying we should have won or any of that," he said. "I thought on the day we were a little more dangerous and a little more chances."
Reach the reporter at:gina.mizell@asu.edu.
