Junior midfielder Devin Marshall (4) handles the ball downfield during the Sun Devils’ 4-1 win over Utah on Thursday. (Photo by Kyle Newman)Junior forward Devin Marshall scored twice to put the ASU soccer team moved one step closer to the postseason, as the Sun Devils (8-8-2, 4-4-1 Pac-12) defeated Utah 4-1 Thursday night in Tempe.
The Sun Devils came out hot early on, opening the scoring in the eighth minute when Marshall took a pass from senior midfielder Courtney Tinnin and beat the Utes goalkeeper from 25 yards out.
The goal tied Marshall for the team lead in goals with seven, and head coach Kevin Boyd was impressed with the quality of the goal.
“What a tremendous goal,” Boyd said. “It was huge, and she just seems to pull goals like that out. She just crushed that ball.”
ASU stretched its early lead in the 59th minute after junior midfielder Holland Crook got taken down in the box and scored the subsequent penalty for her third goal of the season.
Crook stole the ball and had only a defender to beat before she was taken down.
“Devin (Marshall) came up to me and told me I earned it,” Crook said. “I’m just happy it went in.”
Utah (8-7-2, 3-6-0 Pac-12) pulled a goal back in the 68th minute when a handball in the box allowed freshman midfielder Kaycee Buckley to score her second goal of the season.
The Sun Devils finally put the match away in the 76th minute after freshman midfielder Tommi Goodman slotted the ball in the top right corner for her second goal of the season.
Goodman came in as a substitute only minutes before scoring and made an immediate impact on the match.
“Sometimes you are just in the right spot at the right time, and I feel like that’s what happened,” Goodman said. “It was nice to put the team back up to a two goal advantage.”
Marshall added her second goal of the night in the 83rd minute, taking a free kick cross from senior defender Sierra Joseph and heading it into the back of the net.
Marshall’s final strike tied her for 10th all-time in goals in Sun Devil history.
“As soon as Sierra kicked it, I knew I was going to get on the end of it,” Marshall said. “I heard the keeper call for it, but I knew I was going to get a head on it and put it over the goalie.”
The Sun Devils improved to 6-0-1 on the season when scoring first and with the victory, reached .500 for the first time since Oct. 7.
ASU has only two games remaining before the start of postseason play and Boyd was impressed with his team’s gritty performance tonight.
“We came out very focused,” Boyd said. “I’m really happy with what the squad did tonight.”
Reach the reporter at dsshapi1@asu.edu
