The ASU women’s soccer team took a one-goal lead in the first half but wasn’t able to hold on, falling 2-1 to No. 16 UC Irvine in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday.
The Sun Devils ended their season 9-8-3 and reached the postseason for the second year in a row, although they have lost in the first round both times. ASU coach Kevin Boyd said that the team wasn’t able to reach their full potential during the game, a problem that plagued the squad all season.
“On the whole, it was a pretty even game,” Boyd said. “Our concern was we didn’t earn it. I don’t know that we deserved the loss, but we didn’t earn the win, and you never know what’s going to happen at that point.”
Senior forward Jill Shoquist said the game was a pretty even matchup, despite the Anteaters being ranked in the top 20.
“They definitely were physical, but I think we for sure outplayed them most of the game, and we matched up well physically,” Shoquist said. “I just think it got away from us.”
The Sun Devils took the lead in the 17th minute when freshman defender Kaitlyn Pavlovich put a long free kick into the Irvine box. Freshman forward Devin Marshall caught the ball and took a fortunate shot past Irvine senior goalkeeper Danielle de Seriere for her third goal of the season.
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“I just chested it down near the back post and volleyed it over my shoulder, and it just happened to go in,” Marshall said. “It was amazing to score in my first playoff game.”
ASU would hang on to the lead for the next 55 minutes, and was inching closer to advancing to the second round, but things would fall apart very quickly in the 72nd minute when Anteater senior forward Tanya Taylor took a shot that went off the post. The ball bounced to sophomore midfielder Devon Delarosa, who sent it into the open net to tie the game at one.
Less than three minutes later Taylor and Delarosa would link up again. Taylor hit a cross into the Sun Devil box that Delarosa headed past ASU sophomore goalkeeper Alyssa Gillmore. The goals were Delarosa’s third and fourth of the season.
Shoquist said that it only took a momentary lapse in concentration from ASU to let the game get out of hand.
“We just lost focus for what seemed to be a split second and it really hurt us,” Shoquist said. “It’s definitely a disappointing way to lose, especially after being up 1-0 for so long.”
The Sun Devils spent the next 15 minutes frantically trying to find an equalizer, but only managed one more shot from Marshall that went wide. Irvine only outshot ASU by four, but had seven corner kicks to ASU’s none.
The game was played in front of the largest crowd in UC Irvine history, with over 1,000 people in attendance. The Anteaters move on to play Wake Forest in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Reach the reporter at egrasser@asu.edu
