Sept. 11, 2009
TEMPE, Ariz. -
San Diego State-Arizona State Final Box in PDF Format
The San Diego State women's soccer team endured a lightning delay and forced overtime, but ultimately fell to Arizona State, 2-1, Friday night at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium. The loss snaps the Aztecs' two-game unbeaten streak and drops their record to 3-3-1, while ASU watches its record improve to 4-1-1.
The first 45 minutes of the game was a physical, defensive battle that led to a scoreless tie at halftime. Between the two Pacific Region squads, they combined for just six shots with three on goal and eight fouls. The Aztecs top scoring opportunity came in the 38th minute when Hayley Marsh put her shot on goal only to have Sun Devil goalkeeper Briana Silvestri record the save. For the Aztecs, after allowing two shots on goal in the first 23 minutes, both of which Aubree Southwick stopped, they settled down and limited ASU to just a pair of shots in the final 22 minutes of the period.
In the early minutes of the second half, Arizona State added two more shots on goal, but each were met by Southwick. With nearly 11 minutes gone by, both teams were called off the field due to lightning in the area. After a 40-minute delay, play resumed and ASU's Alexandra Elston scored in the 57th minute on a header off a Courtney Tinnin corner kick to break the scoreless draw.
Down a goal with more than 37 minutes left to play in regulation, the Aztecs continued to work and were rewarded at 69:38 when Cat Walker notched her team-leading third goal of 2009. The junior drove through the Arizona State defense, shot the ball, which hit the crossbar, and went in to knot the score at 1 apiece. San Diego State outshot the Sun Devils the rest of regulation in terms of shots on goal, 2-1, but neither side could find the back of the net sending the game into overtime.
In the extra session, Arizona State earned a free kick, which was turned into a game-winning sequence after Elston took the Sierra Joseph kick and headed the ball past Southwick and the defense to provide the final margin. Elston's second goal of the night came at 98:00.
San Diego State returns to the pitch on Sunday, Sept. 13, when it plays at UC Riverside. The non-conference tilt is slated for a 6 p.m. PT start.