This article was originally written on October 23, 2022.
Arizona State (7-4-3) failed to play spoiler on the Washington Huskies’ (9-4-3) Senior Day, losing 2-1 in Seattle. It appeared that the Sun Devils would escape their Washington road trip with a win and a draw, but they conceded two goals in the last five minutes of the match today.
ASU stormed out of the gate aggressively, taking early control of the possession battle and snuffing out any Husky attack that threatened freshmen goalkeeper Pauline Nelles. Nelles had an impressive early save on a header, looking strong once again. The Sun Devils came in with back-to-back shutouts and seemed poised to continue that trend for most of the game today.
However, the Sun Devils struggled to combine that stout defensive play with much offensive attack, despite getting on the scoreboard early. Graduate student midfielder Alexia Delgado put ASU up 1-0 with her fifth goal of the season at the 14-minute mark, but the offense was silent after that.
The Sun Devil collapse began late after playing stout defense the whole day. Fifth-year forward Summer Yates netted one to tie things up for the Huskies in the 86th minute. A draw would be disappointing but acceptable.
The Huskies just would not quit though. Fifth-year forward Karlee Stueckle snuck one past Nelles, giving the Huskies a 2-1 lead with only one minute remaining. Stueckle’s fifth goal of the season was a shocking dagger for the Sun Devils.
A concerning trend continued for ASU today when they only got off five shots to Washington’s 23 shots with eight on goal. Strong defensive play allowed them to hold the lead, but that consistent pressure certainly wore down Nelles and her defense today. In their last two games, ASU is being outshot 55-13.
The Sun Devils will look to buck this trend and finish strong with a three-game homestand to end conference play. The Sun Devils play next on Thursday against the University of Oregon (4-6-6). That game kicks off at 7 p.m. MST.
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