They’re going to want this one back.
In a 2-0 loss to Boise State, two of the ASU soccer team’s preseason aspirations were shattered.
The first, not losing a home game, which was possible considering the Sun Devils play the top two Pac-12 schools on the road, and a 6-2 nonconference record, both came to an end.
Redshirt sophomore goalie Chandler Morris spoke about the performance after the game.
“It’s always disappointing when you don’t make your goals, but we have a lot of other goals for this season,” she said.
More concerning though, was ASU coach Kevin Boyd said his team lacked effort in the loss.
“Today I didn’t think we worked very hard,” Boyd said. “I didn’t think our quality was lacking, I thought our effort was. The team feels the same way. They feel like they lacked energy and they lacked passion. That’s just so far from who we are.”
It wasn’t as if ASU (5-3) didn’t have chances to go ahead in the game. It outshot Boise State (5-2-2) 18-12 and seemingly took more dangerous chances.
Boise State goalie Maddy McDevitt turned in a great performance with six saves, most coming off difficult shots.
Kick save, crossbar, blocks, and end line saves were just some of the ways ASU’s shot attempts were halted.
“We definitely had chances that whole time,” Boyd said. “I thought we had a PK at one point. We had the one go off the crossbar; maybe it’s in, maybe it’s not. We had a couple end line saves on their part where we were shooting and they blocked it literally on their goal line.
Heading into halftime, the Sun Devils probably thought they should have had a goal, but McDevitt pulled in four saves.
“It was just one of those days,” Morris said.
As the game continued, the scoreless duel became more worrisome, with the thought that the first team to score probably wins the game.
In the 79th minute, midfielder Shannon Schueren put Boise State in front. Schueren received a cross from midfielder Rebe Wolverton near the left part of the box and took an excellent shot into the far post.
The ball was put in a perfect location and there was nothing Morris could do.
“It was a good finish by her, she buried it in the far corner,” she said.
The Sun Devils didn’t go out without a fight. In the last 10 minutes, ASU had three free kicks from just outside the penalty box.
With less than three minutes remaining, ASU had one of the best chances when senior midfielder Holland Crook took a free kick from the right side of the box.
Crook’s free kick was initially blocked by a defensive wall. However, she collected her own rebound and had another chance, and this time it bounced off the crossbar. On the rebound, senior defender Kaitlyn Pavlovich took a header shot on target, but it was saved.
Some of the unfortunate luck for the Sun Devils was attributable to the location of those set pieces. Obviously a penalty kick occurs when a foul is committed inside the box, meaning ASU was close to partaking in the most dangerous scoring opportunity in soccer.
Sophomore forward Brooke Heidemann scored for Boise State with less than three seconds remaining in the game, giving the Broncos a 2-0 victory.
ASU hopes to rebound in its next game on Sept. 29 at home against USC.
Reach the reporter at justin.janssen@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @jjanssen11
