Sun Devils close home soccer season with 1-0 loss to Oregon

By Scott Mammoser

October 27, 2019

TEMPE – Ally Cook scored in the 16^th minute to lift the Oregon Ducks to a 1-0 win over Arizona State in the Sun Devils’ home finale on Sunday.

The goal was Cook’s fifth of the season, off a pass from Chardonnay Curran, as Oregon improved to 5-6-5 and 1-5-2 in the Pac-12 Conference. ASU is now 6-8-3 and 0-6-2 in the league, with three matches remaining.

Ducks score in the 16th minute to win 1-0 over the Devils

The Sun Devils had some great opportunities to equalize in the final 10 minutes, with Callie Darst smacking the post at 89:30, but luck was not on their side.

“We need to improve our decision making in the backfield and give the goalkeeper some protection as well,” ASU coach Graham Winkworth said. “Callie hitting the post sums up our season. We’re not where we are because of luck, but we could have used some today.”

Giulia Cascapera made six saves for ASU, while Katelyn Carter made four for the Ducks. 

Sunday also meant Senior Day festivities for the Sun Devils, who will graduate Sydney Day, Christina Edwards, Kylie Miniefield, Adriana Orozco, and Lorato Sargeant.

“The team definitely welcomed me in and supported me on and off the field,” said Sargeant, who is a master’s student and Virginia transfer. “I really made an impact. We can help kind of swing things in these final three games. We need a lot of grit and to be aggressive on the ball. We had that in some games and not in others, and that hurt us.”

The Sun Devils will be at No. 2 Stanford (13-1) at 5 p.m. on Thursday, at California on Nov. 3 and Arizona on Nov. 8. The Ducks will host No. 7 USC on Thursday and No.18 UCLA on Nov.3 before closing the year at rival Oregon State on Nov. 7. The win on Sunday was the Ducks’ first since defeating Buffalo, 2-1, on Sept. 22. At 12-0-3, Virginia is ranked No.1 in the nation, as the Cavaliers look to add to the national titles they captured in men’s basketball and lacrosse this spring.

The Devils Thriller Comeback Over the Cougars

Article by Mike Stockman
Photos by Keenan Wright

TEMPE, AZ (October 12, 2019) - On a fall afternoon in the heart of the valley of the sun, the temperature touched 86 degrees before the Arizona State University Sun Devils took the field to defeat PAC-12 rival Washington State Cougars by a score of 38-34 at Sun Devil Stadium on a last minute scramble by a true-freshman quarterback Jayden Daniels on October 12, 2019.

To start the game, the Cougars hi-octane passing offense scored in five plays on a pass of 35 yards by Anthony Gordon to wide open Travell Harris.

The Cougars added a field goal in the first quarter, which extended the lead to 10-0 going into the second quarter. Gordon ended the first quarter with 111 yards passing, 11-17 completions, and one touchdown pass for the Cougars. He would finish the game with 44 of 64 completions, 466 yards passing, and three touchdown passes.

After a Devils scoreless first quarter, the Devils scored on a 40 yard touchdown pass from  Daniels to Brandon Aiyuk, the first of three touchdown passes between the teammates, bringing the score to 10-7 Cougars with 11:50 left in the half.

The Cougars responded with a 87 yard, three minute-thirty seconds drive, scoring a touchdown from Gordon to another wide open receiver Dezmon Patmon, extending the lead to 17-7 in front of a stunned Devil student section.

With less than two minutes left in the half, Devils' Daniels connects with Aiyuk for an 86 yard touchdown sprint, the longest of Daniels and Aiyuks' college career, making the score 17-14. After stopping the Cougars' next drive, the Devils get the ball and drive down inside field goal range, allowing Christian Zendejas to use his skillful foot to tie game up before the end of the half 17-17.

On the first drive of the second half, Eno Benjamin scored on a 32 yard touchdown run, which put the Devils on top 24-17.

With a little over five and a half minutes left in the third quarter, Cougars' Gordon and Easop Winston connect on a slant route over the middle for a  two yard touchdown, tying the score 24-24.

Before the clock ran out on the third quarter, the Cougars pound it into the end zone on a two yard run up the middle to take the lead 31-24.

Aiyuk scored his third touchdown of the game on a 33 yard pass from Daniels, tying to game 31-31 with 11:19 left on the game clock. Aiyuk would finish the game 196 yards receiving and three touchdowns.

The Cougars took the lead 34-31 with 2:30 left the game on a 31 yard field goal by Blake Mazza.

For the second time this season, the Devils come from behind when the freshman leader Daniels does a helicopter into the end zone on a 17 yard scramble to put the Devils up 38-34 with less than 40 seconds left in the game.  Daniels passed for 363 yards and three touchdowns, earning him a quarterback rating of 184.4 for the game.

The Devils defense held on and were able to shutdown the Cougars impressive passing game finishing the game with the victory by a score of 38-34.

The Cougars host PAC-12 rival Colorado at home on October 19, at 4 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN2 or ESPNU.

The #18 Devils travel to Salt Lake City, Utah to take on the Utes on October 19, at 3 p.m. for a PAC-12 conference match-up.