Still undefeated
Both of the two goals on Friday were met with some type of controversy. The Sun Devils were awarded a penalty kick that Nicole Douglas sent into the back of the net in the 74th minute to knot the game at one.
It’d be the final score as Arizona State (5-0-2, 1-0-2 Pac-12) came out of Eugene with a 1-1 draw against Oregon (2-3-2, 1-2-1).
Douglas got to go to the spot after Olivia Nguyen was fouled by Oregon keeper Leah Freeman. Cori Sullivan was on the end of a high pass from Douglas, but after a Duck tackle, the ball slipped into the box.
Nguyen raced after it and seemingly got a touch on it before Freeman appeared to clip her ankle. The equalizer took away what had been a solid defensive second half for Oregon.
On the other side, plenty of Sun Devils threw up their hands at the head referee Justin St. Pierre’s decision to allow Oregon’s 42nd minute score. It appeared the first half was going to be scoreless, but True Dydasco fired one away a bit outside the box.
Her shot bounced downward off the crossbar and Arizona State goaltender Giulia Cascapera corralled it. Then a few moments later, St. Pierre said the ball crossed the line and the Ducks took the lead.
Overall, it’s hard to be upset that the Sun Devils are still undefeated after three conference games.
However, it’s likely that Arizona State had hoped for more scoring than a goal per game since Pac-12 play started, especially after 16 combined shots on goal against Oregon and Washington.
The chances were there as well. Freeman left her line without grabbing the ball that was in the box. Arizona State took a shot but an Oregon defender cleared it.
Credit to Freeman as well, who pushed away a decent chance from Douglas in the first half and stellar strike from Jessica Hale with three seconds left in regulation.
Arizona State looks to close out the trip with a win on Sunday against Oregon State, a team that has beaten Stanford and taken UCLA to overtime. That will kickoff at 12:00 p.m. MT on Pac-12 Networks.
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