COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Arizona State women’s soccer team suffered a 4-1 loss to Missouri (No. 10 Soccer America/No. 18 NSCAA) on Friday night.
Friday’s game was moved from evening to afternoon due to a forecast of heavy rain from remnants of Hurricane Isaac. Despite the earlier start time, the elements and their effects were on full display when the game started as the two teams contested the first 45 minutes amid periods of heavy rain and gusting winds.
With the wind at their backs the Tigers (4-0) would take advantage, scoring goals in the fifth minute (sophomore Abi Raymer) and 34th minute (junior Dominique Richardson) to take – given the elements – a commanding 2-0 lead at the half.
“We didn’t play very well today,” ASU head coach Kevin Boyd said following the game. “We faced some elements in the first half and gave up two goals. We made too many mistakes and didn’t do a good enough job of winning loose balls. Sloppy field. Sloppy day. We need to stop making ‘young’ errors and do a better job of keeping the ball.”
ASU (1-3) would have the wind at its back in the second half, but the heavy rain that made defending more challenging earlier in the game had slowed to a steady drizzle.
The Sun Devils would make their already-difficult task of coming back even tougher after setting the Tigers up with a penalty kick a little more than three minutes into the second half. Richardson would convert the kick, giving Missouri a 3-0 lead.
Another Missouri goal in the 54th minute increased the Tigers’ advantage to 4-0, before junior forward Devin Marshall got the Sun Devils on the board with her third goal of the season in the 61st minute. Marshall’s goal came on a rebound off a long shot from freshman Sara Tosti.
Missouri outshot ASU 17-8 for the game, but only had a plus-3 edge (7-4) in shots on goal. The Tigers also had an 11-4 advantage in corner kicks as ASU struggled to find its offensive rhythm.
“We can’t go one game playing a certain way and then the next one none of those characteristics show up,” Boyd said. “We were all over the place today. We didn’t do what we needed to do in the attack in terms of keeping the ball and trying to attack the way we are capable of and then we were disorganized and rattled in our back line."
The Sun Devils will look to bounce back on Sunday when they conclude their five-game road swing to start the 2012 season with a match at Kansas.
