This article was originally published on October 28, 2022.
It was a special night for graduate senior forward Nicole Douglas, as she led Arizona State (8-4-3) to a 5-1 victory over the University of Oregon (4-7-6) on Thursday night.
Douglas finished the night smiling, wearing a yellow cowboy hat and celebrating two program records which she set during the game: most goals in a single game (4) and most points in a single game (9).
Douglas put her stamp on the game literally less than a minute in, netting the first of her four goals on an assist from freshmen forward Enasia Colon. The Sun Devils came out with intense pressure from their forwards and midfielders, nearly scoring two more times in the first ten minutes.
Douglas, who hadn’t scored yet in the Pac-12 season, headed a ball in from graduate senior midfielder Alexia Delgado, giving the team a 2-0 lead that they never looked back from in the 22nd minute. Douglas completed a first-half hat trick with another goal just one minute later.
The second half provided more scoring opportunities for Douglas. Eventually, after a few misses, Douglas netted her fourth goal of the game in the 73rd minute.
Douglas had some extra motivation behind her performance, as her mother and other family members sat amongst the crowd of tonight’s game.
“She’s my good luck charm,” Douglas said with a smile.
Midfield play was essential to the Sun Devils’ success. Stellar play from Delgado and fellow grad senior Eva van Deursen kept ASU in control of possession and took the pressure off the defense and freshmen goalkeeper Pauline Nelles. Van Deursen added her own goal as well, on an assist by Douglas, of course.
Van Deursen joined Douglas in the record books, as she tied the career record for assists at ASU with her first-half assist to Douglas. However, Van Deursen had other things on her mind despite her big night.
“The priority for me is getting a whole team performance and winning the games,” Van Deursen said.
Head coach Graham Winkworth was proud of his team’s performance and especially complimentary of their ability to score five goals on star Oregon junior goalkeeper Leah Freeman.
“You might have just watched the two best goalies in the country play against each other,” Winkworth said of Freeman and his own keeper, Nelles.
Freeman was obviously off her game, but she was not helped by her defense. The Sun Devils were able to fire 22 shots at Freeman with 11 on goal and seemed to constantly have the ball in the Ducks’ third of the pitch.
With the win, the Sun Devils were confident that they should be seeded in this year’s NCAA Tournament after missing out last year, but Winkworth wanted to focus on one game at a time. Winkworth did have one request of Douglas after her stellar performance.
“[Douglas’s] mom arrived yesterday or today and I am telling ‘Dougie’ that her mom’s not going to be leaving until our season’s over.”
The Sun Devils have a few days to recharge before Senior Day, which will be an emotional one for Douglas, Van Deursen and the other super-seniors of the Sun Devils. They face Oregon State (4-10-3) on Sunday at 1 p.m. MST.
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