ASU Soccer: Sun Devils’ physical match with Washington ends in a draw

The through ball from Nicole Douglas threaded past a group of Washington defenders. The ball rolled into Olive Jones’ possession, it was just her and Husky keeper Olivia Sekany to possibly the determine the result of Sunday’s match.

Jones put her foot on the ball, hopeful it’d be the golden goal in overtime. Instead, Sekany got another on it to push the change aside. That was the closest Arizona State (5-0-1) got in overtime, as the Sun Devils and Washington (4-0-2) concluded in a 1-1 tie.

Aside from the Jones one-on-one opportunity, each team had solid chances to find the game-winning score.

In the 104th minute, Eva Van Deursen delivered a beauty of a ball to Douglas. However, Douglas just didn’t get enough touch on it to stop the spin as it tailed off her foot on the shot.

Washington had a set piece that Arizona State goaltender Giulia Cascapera went after. She didn’t hold onto it and the Huskies started to fire shots toward the net. Defender Lucy Johnson came up with a save to prevent the goal.

“We were fortunate, Olive and Dougie both had good opportunities, and on another day, we’d score,” Sun Devil coach Graham Winkworth said. “I told them that if they miss a chance like that, they just need to be goldfish. They’re very clever creatures because they have such short memories - only 10 seconds. So when you miss chances like that as a forward, you need to be a goldfish and take the next one. I’ve got a lot of confidence in Olive and Dougie, and on another day, they both score. It is what it is. That’s part of soccer.

“I’m just happy that we started to create those chances in open play. In the last game, I felt like we were a problem for USC from set-pieces, but we weren’t creating enough in the open, and today we created a few more chances from open play, and I was happy with that side of it.”

Both goals came inside the game’s first 30 minutes. Washington put the one on the board first after a nice build up ended in a Ruby Hellstrom goal.

Alexia Delgado then answered and netted the Arizona State equalizer after she ran up on a loose ball and fired it in during the 27th minute. There was a ton of contact between the two squads, as they combined there for 17 fouls called.

“I was a bit frustrated on the sideline, and I know it’s difficult for the referees,” Winkworth said. “They have a difficult job, but I felt some instances could’ve been given as fouls that weren’t and quite a few challenges that were given, but there were no bookings for a long time, so it wasn’t putting a stop to it. I was a little disappointed with some of the challenges the players had to withstand, and unfortunately, we picked up some injuries and have to wait until next week for what they look like. Didn’t feel or look very good from the sideline watching.”

Jones probably would say she needs to score her chance, but she also was a huge reason Arizona State created nine shots on goal. Jones was constantly involved and finished the day with three shots on goal herself.

Arizona State starts its four-game road trip next week when it heads to Oregon and Oregon State on March 12 and 14.