This article was originally published on November 13, 2022.
Nicole Douglas and company just didn’t have the magic Saturday night, as Arizona State’s (9-6-3) season came to an end tonight at the hands of the University of Portland (12-4-4). The Pilots defeated the Sun Devils 3-0 to advance to the second round of the tournament.
Deep in the second half, an issue that has haunted the Sun Devils in many games this season began to rear its head again, as they struggled to get any semblance of a consistent attack going against the Pilots and could not maintain possession of the ball enough to control the flow of the game.
Already trailing by a goal, the dagger for the Pilots came from junior forward Nedya Sawan in the 74th minute. The goal took the wind from the Sun Devils’ sails, making any comeback seem just about out of reach based on the Sun Devils offensive play.
ASU goalkeeper Pauline Nelles, recently named to the Pac 12 All-Freshmen Team, was able to fight off 15 shots from the Pilots but she was under far too consistent pressure to save everything, ultimately surrendering three goals.
Portland was able to set the tone early, as they came out playing aggressive offense and hunting shots. This aggressive offense gave them a seven-to-one-shot advantage in the first half of the game.
ASU was able to keep it level in the first half despite the heavy pressure. However, In the 56th minute, that issue finally became too much to handle, as freshmen defender Isabella Yakel was able to get a header past her freshmen counterpart, goalkeeper Pauline Nelles.
A stout Pilot defense bottled up star graduate senior forward Nicole Douglas. Douglas was forced to distribute the ball more when ASU could get into the attacking third, but others like grad senior Olivia Nguyen and junior defender Lucy Johnson could not capitalize.
Portland’s home field advantage mixed with the weather on a very chilly fall night likely did not help the Sun Devil offense. Despite being ranked higher in the RPI, the Sun Devils were seeded lower than Portland, forcing them to travel to Portland for the game.
The Pilots advanced to the second round and will travel to Tuscaloosa, Alabama to face the University of Alabama. Alabama defeated Jackson St. 9-0 in their first round game.
The loss marks the end of an era for ASU soccer. Graduate senior midfielders Alexia Delgado and Eva van Deursen, as well as forwards Nguyen and Douglas have all likely played their last game as Sun Devils.
All four players were crucial to ASU’s return to the NCAA Tournament, especially the record-setting Douglas and van Deursen. After a lost season last year, the Sun Devils rebounded and put together a tournament team around these four, with Douglas winning Pac-12 Forward of the year in her farewell tour.
Now head coach Graham Winkworth begins the process of rebuilding, likely around young players like Pauline Nelles and freshmen forward Enasia Colon.
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