Two weeks ago, one win might have seemed like a lot for the ASU soccer team to ask for.
With six players out due to injuries, the Sun Devils (7-5-4, 1-3-1) headed into the first half of their Pac-10 Conference season unranked and virtually unnoticed. The team was lost in the shuffle of powerhouses UCLA (No. 4) and USC (No. 10).
“Anytime you’re viewed as the underdog and you come up with a big win or a tie, it makes you happy,” junior midfielder Carly Kallas said. “It just pumps you up to put forth a good effort. We’re only the underdogs if we let ourselves be the underdogs. We control the outcome by how we play.”
Coming off of an upset victory against defending national champion USC, the Sun Devils spent the weekend in the Bay Area to counter Cal and No. 5 Stanford.
Friday, ASU managed to pull off a 2-2 tie in double overtime against the Golden Bears (10-5-1, 3-2-1), without junior defender Liz Harkin, who was training with the under-20 women’s national team in Portland, Ore.
"I can't emphasize enough that we were the underdogs again [Friday]," Boyd said. "We don't have [depth because of injuries]. We are doing everything we can to try and get games.”
It didn’t take long for the Sun Devils to score, as Kallas sneaked one past Cal’s goalkeeper in the ninth minute of the game.
"Carly had never scored a goal with her feet in the college game until today," Boyd said. “[Friday] she got a nice one and buried it from distance."
Sophomore forward Karin Volpe also put one into the lower corner of the net. Her eighth goal of the season came off of an assist from sophomore midfielder Erin Seto.
ASU carried that lead into the final 15 minutes of the game. Then, the Golden Bears reversed momentum, scoring two goals in a five-minute span.
Junior goalkeeper Briana Silvestri made three saves in the two overtime periods to preserve the tie.
Sunday, the Sun Devils fell to Stanford 5-0.
“The bottom line is they’re a very good team,” Boyd said. “They’re the best we’ve seen in the last two years.”
The Cardinal (16-0-1, 6-0) remains undefeated this season; the team played No. 2 North Carolina to a 1-1 tie on Sept. 12.
Stanford owes much of its success to its younger players. Twenty-four of the team’s 53 goals this season have come from freshmen, including four of the team’s five goals Sunday.
Sunday, Boyd decided to sit Silvestri on the bench, allowing freshman Leslie Castellano and junior Katie Cochran to fill in. The Cardinal outshot the Sun Devils 33 to five.
ASU will return home next weekend to host Oregon and Oregon State.
Reach the reporter at emiley.darling@asu.edu.
