ASU women's soccer faced No. 3 Stanford (15-1-1, 8-1 Pac-12) Sunday afternoon and was dealt its sixth straight loss — defeated, 2-1.
Flowers, tears and hugs were exchanged at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium prior to kickoff. ASU recognized five players on senior day — goalkeeper Ashley March, midfielder Lucy Lara, defender Mckenzie Grossman, forward Larisa Staub and defender Annie Warren — all whom are now one game away from finishing their soccer careers at ASU.
Head coach Kevin Boyd thought his team played well despite injuries still taking their tole. Junior midfield Aly Moon and junior forward Jazmarie Mader are still sidelined with concussions.
“We are lacking a couple of our impact attacking players and I think we are playing the best we can,” Boyd said. “The team played their heart out.”
ASU’s grit and determination was evident in the first half as it dominated defensively against Stanford’s illustrious offense. The Sun Devils (6-9-2, 1-7-1 Pac-12) allowed Stanford six shots with one on goal. ASU took three shots throughout the first half with not one hitting the target.
Grossman said the message at halftime was to stay on top of Stanford.
“We started off strong and went into the locker room really excited keeping them at 0-0,” she said. “We just wanted to come out and play exactly how we did the first half.”
Stanford scored its first goal in the 52nd minute off a penalty kick. Junior defender Taylor Coon was attempting to clear the ball when it hit her hand inside the box. Standout junior midfielder Andi Sullivan took the kick for Stanford and pushed it right passed March to put Stanford up 1-0.
Andi Sullivan puts @StanfordWSoccer on the board! ⚽️
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) October 30, 2016
Watch: https://t.co/ZLABafSnBVhttps://t.co/lQ8OBSwZld
“I was a little frustrated because there were some really obvious hand balls in the middle of the field that he didn’t call,” Boyd said.
Minutes later Sullivan would strike again, this time in the 64th minute to extend Stanford’s lead to 2-0. Redshirt sophomore Kyra Carusa passed the ball to Sullivan, who was waiting at the top of the 18-yard box. Sullivan shot immediately and sent the ball flying into the bottom right corner of the goal to record her 10th goal of the season.
Andi Sullivan's SECOND goal scores the @OpusBank #12Best Moment!@StanfordWSoccer https://t.co/XohOSatXGr
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) October 31, 2016
ASU didn't go down without a fight. Staub put her team on the board in the 67th minute after Lara took a free kick and lofted a beautiful ball into the 18-yard box. Staub got a foot on the ball, resulting in a goal for the Sun Devils.
Of her goal, Staub said it was all a blur when she skimmed the ball to get a goal on Senior Day.
“All a shock, all a blurr, but at the end of the day cool,” Staub said.
ASU's defense was unequivocally the backbone of the team's strong performance. Grossman said the game plan was similar to the matchup against California, which they played on Thursday.
“They play a lot of possession so it was more of a mental game,” Grossman said. “We focused on keeping possession once we got the ball and then attacking and finding our own rhythm.”
Boyd said the decision to start March in goal was easy. March was out at the beginning of the season due to injury and hadn’t played a game for ASU all season.
“It was the greatest experience ever and it's how I wanted to come out,” March said. “To be able to come out on Senior Day and make an impact, that meant a lot to me.”
Grossman spoke about her career at ASU saying it has been "amazing." With one game left at home in the regular season, the realization of the seniors’ final game is starting to set in.
“I love ASU, it will always be home and I’ve had the best four years that anyone could have had,” Grossman said.
The Sun Devils will host rival Arizona on Friday at 3 p.m. at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium for the grand finale of the 2016 season.
Reach the reporter at kcvalen1@asu.edu or follow @kvalenzuela17 on Twitter.
Like State Press Sports on Facebook and follow @statepresssport on Twitter.
