TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Arizona State women’s soccer team lost a home contest for the first time this season Friday night, getting shut out by Boise State 2-0.
The Sun Devils (5-3), who came into Friday’s contest having scored a season-best four goals three times in their last four games, were not able to generate any offense against the Broncos (5-2-2) despite an 18-12 advantage in shots.
ASU’s advances put plenty of pressure on the Boise State defense, outshooting the Broncos 8-4 in the first half. However, shot attempts by Devin Marshall and Cali Farquharson either missed by mere inches or were saved by Broncos goalkeeper Maddy McDevitt.
Early in the second half, the Sun Devils had an opportunity to put one on the board and take the lead. Farquharson had a good look at close-range shot off of a free kick from Holland Crook, however was stopped by McDevitt once again.
Boise State tallied the first goal of the contest in the 79th minute when Broncos’ midfielder Shannon Schueren found the back of the net off of a cross from Kayla Tucker.
ASU goalkeeper Chandler Morris said of the goal, “It was a good shot. She just buried it in the far corner. The ball got crossed, and they had a player wide open on the far post, and she just buried it opposite post.”
“The tactical situation we discussed at halftime did not occur,” said ASU head coach Kevin Boyd. “Our wide player left her player to go try to win a different ball, and they immediately played it to the player that she left. A player ran down the field, crossed it to the open player in our box who took it home. There were multiple errors there – it was a complete organizational mistake.”
The Sun Devils were not ready to give up. With minutes remaining in the second half, Marshall charged toward the goal, only to be fouled by Broncos’ defender Mikhaila Bowden. Crook’s free kick was blocked, but the ball bounced back and she chipped it over the wall of defenders. With bated breath, both teams watched as the ball hit the crossbar and popped back out into the box. Attempting to tie the game, ASU defender Kaitlyn Pavlovich headed the ball towards the goal, but McDevitt, who tallied six saves for the night, blocked the shot.
“I wanted it,” said Crook. “First I hit the wall, then I hit the cross bar. It was unfortunate, but it was one of those days.”
“We definitely had chances the whole time,” added Boyd. “We created chances. We had that one go off the cross bar, we had a couple of end-line saves on their part where they blocked it literally on the goal line. We definitely had chances, but I didn’t think our effort was good enough – our energy level was just down.
“We were just too loose in the second half; we needed to tighten up on their players. There wasn’t enough pressure on the ball. We need to be tight enough where we can pick that first ball or make their first touch extremely difficult. We just weren’t doing that.”
The Broncos added their second goal with two seconds remaining, as Brooke Heideman broke free on a counter attack and launched an uncontested shot that sailed over Morris’ reach.
For the Sun Devils, Friday’s loss ended their six-game regular-season home wining streak.
“It’s upsetting,” Crook said of the loss. “No one wants to lose, especially at home. But from here we have to regroup; we have to come back and change that. Now we need to focus on not giving another one up at home.”
