The ASU soccer team was unable to win its annual “Pink Out” game, as California maintained its undefeated road record and defeated the Sun Devils (6-8-1, 2-4-0 Pac-12) 2-0 Friday afternoon in Tempe.
Cal (12-3-0, 5-1-0 Pac-12) struck first in the 28th minute when freshman forward Celeste Boureille beat Sun Devil redshirt freshman goalkeeper Chandler Morris on the far post for her third goal of the season.
The Sun Devils were outshot 19-9 in the match and had trouble generating offense against the Golden Bears.
“We were making technical errors and weren’t creative enough in our runs,” Boyd said. “Our communication just shut off, and we weren’t able to stay connected.”
The Sun Devils started gaining momentum in the second half, but a goalkeeping blunder sealed the game for the Golden Bears.
Boyd removed Morris midway through the second half in favor of sophomore keeper Liz Schulze, a move that ended up being costly for the Sun Devils.
“Morris was making mental errors,” Boyd said. “Our kicking game went away completely. She was frozen up and couldn’t decide whether to come out to play balls and she wasn’t talking to her teammates.”
On Cal’s first shot against Schulze, the ball deflected off of her hands and into the back of the net, giving the Golden Bears their second goal of the match.
That 75th-minute goal was scored by freshman midfielder Celeste Martore, the first of her career.
Boyd was disappointed with his team’s all-around play.
“I don’t think we played our best soccer today,” Boyd said. “We didn’t play as well as we can, and why we didn’t is a good question.”
Junior forward Devin Marshall, who returned from injury, was also upset with the result.
“Going into the game, we knew this was going to be an evenly matched opponent, and whoever was more aggressive was going to win the game,” Marshall said. “We didn’t come out and play the way we wanted to.”
The Sun Devils resume Pac-12 play next weekend on the road at Oregon State on Oct. 19 and Oregon on Oct. 21 — the team’s last road trip of the season.
Reach the reporter at dsshapi1@asu.edu
