The ASU women’s soccer team was unable to pull out a win during a tough road weekend, and instead had to settle for a draw and a loss.
The No. 21 Sun Devils went scoreless both games, losing 1-0 to Long Beach State on Friday and drawing 0-0 with Pepperdine on Sunday. ASU only has one goal in its past four games after starting the season with 18 goals in its first six.
ASU coach Kevin Boyd said, despite the lack of goals, he was happy with the effort from the Sun Devils.
“I don’t think we’re firing on all cylinders yet,” Boyd said. “I thought we just came out and battled better and were more organized.”
On Friday, LBSU would score their only goal on a 30-yard strike from junior midfielder Shawna Gordon in the 34th minute.
ASU sophomore goalkeeper Alyssa Gillmore came off the goal line to punch a dangerous ball out of the box, but the ball came straight to Gordon, who didn’t waste any time taking a long-range shot that went over the Sun Devil defense and into the back of the net.
“It was a real opportunistic kind of fluky goal situation, so it’s just the way it goes,” Boyd said. “We had our chances as well. We’re just not finishing right now.”
ASU would spend the rest of the game trying to battle back, but just couldn’t get the ball past the 49er goalkeeper.
Freshman midfielder Holland Crook led the Sun Devils with four shots, three of which came after the LBSU goal.
“The Friday game was a very even game,” Boyd said. “It’s unfortunate that any team actually won.”
On Sunday, PU outshot ASU 14 to 10, but neither team could find the net in another tight game.
“We played better than we did Friday, so I’m encouraged by that,” Boyd said. “Our attackers and a couple of our key players aren’t on their game right now, for whatever reason.”
Senior forward Karin Volpe led the Sun Devils in shots on Sunday with three, and Gillmore kept the Waves off the score sheet with three saves, but again, Boyd said both teams were very evenly matched.
“I think, when we throw a whole game together, we’re quite a bit better than what we showed today,” Boyd said.
The Sun Devils have next weekend off before they open up conference play against Washington State on Oct. 8.
Reach the reporter at egrasser@asu.edu
