The ASU women’s soccer team managed to pull out a win on Friday, but a lack of intensity and several defensive errors resulted in its first loss of the season against Central Florida on Sunday.
The No. 19 Sun Devils (6-1-1) held on for the 1-0 win against Ohio State (6-2-1) but gave up five goals in a loss to UCF (5-2-1).
After the loss, ASU coach Kevin Boyd said the defense simply broke down.
“Our whole back line struggled today. Our defending was terrible,” Boyd said. “We didn’t look anything like us. It wasn’t our team today.”
State Press Television By Fahim Rasul
Senior midfielder Alexandra Elston added that the team as a whole played poorly.
“This weekend just wasn’t who we are, at all,” Elston said. “We didn’t come out and play. It was a lack of effort almost. We need to change it if we want to win the rest of the year.”
On Friday, Boyd said the Sun Devils looked out of sync, but the ASU defense held, and six saves from sophomore goalkeeper Alyssa Gillmore were enough to keep OSU off the score sheet.
The lone goal of the game came just before halftime when junior defender Kari Shane lined up to take a free kick. The OSU goalkeeper managed to save the driving shot from Shane, but the deflection went off the crossbar and right to sophomore forward Alyssa Freeman, who headed the ball into an open net.
The Sun Devils managed to hold off the Buckeyes in the second half to earn their sixth win of the season and keep their unbeaten streak alive.
On Sunday, however, ASU faced a quick and dangerous UCF team that was ready to capitalize on any mistakes.
“We weren’t a whole lot different than we were Friday night, but the other team [UCF] made us pay, and [OSU] didn’t Friday night,” Boyd said.
The Knights opened up the scoring in the fifth minute on a turnover in Sun Devil territory, but Elston said that shouldn’t have set the tone for the game.
“It was one goal, and we should have been able to keep playing,” Elston said. “We just didn’t pick up our game at all.”
At times, the Sun Devil midfield would try to settle the ball down and establish a passing game, but quick UCF counterattacks would soon put ASU back on their heels again.
The Knights would score again 12 minutes from halftime after a disorganized ASU defense let a loose ball fall to a UCF player in the box.
Both teams had 15 total shots during the game, but the majority of ASU’s shots came from too far out to seriously challenge redshirt junior goalkeeper Aline Reis.
The player of the game for the Knights was sophomore forward Tishia Jewell, who scored UCF’s third and fourth goals, both from close range.
Jewell also assisted on the Knights’ fifth and final goal, sending a lead pass that allowed senior midfielder/defender Lauren Halbert to break free and slot in the ball on the right side.
“Today the ball went in for this team, and our back line just absolutely collapsed,” Boyd said. “We didn’t show up. Their heads were somewhere else.”
The Sun Devils return to action next weekend, at Long Beach State on Friday and at Pepperdine on Sunday. The games will be the last for ASU before they open up Pac-10 play on Oct. 8.
Reach the reporter at egrasser@asu.edu
