Penalty Kick Decides Ducks? Fate at Arizona State
TEMPE, Ariz. – For the first time this season, the Oregon soccer team faced a penalty kick, which proved to be the decider as Arizona State dropped the Ducks 1-0 Sunday afternoon at the Sun Devil Soccer Stadium.
HOW IT HAPPENED: In the 25th minute, ASU’s Mackenzie Semerad got tangled up with Kelsey Foo in the box and went down. Foo was whistled for the foul, giving the Sun Devils a penalty kick opportunity. It is the first time this season that an Oregon opponent has earned a penalty kick. The kick came from Cali Farquharson, who went to the upper right corner and got it past the outstretched arms of keeper Halla Hinriksdóttir.
Before that, ASU was knocking on the door of the Oregon goal from the opening whistle and Hinriksdóttir came up with two big saves in the first 20 minutes. The first came when a corner kick service came in and Lucy Lara sent in a shot from just inside the box. The shot was deflected off an Oregon defender forcing Hinriksdóttir to show off her quick reflexes and make a diving save to her right.
The second was in the 20th minute as Jessica Raybe got loose behind the Ducks defense and Hinriksdottir came out to make an aggressive play on the ball. Following the goal, the Sun Devils got four more shots off, but the Ducks defense held, blocking two.
The intermission proved critical as Oregon came out in the second half with an aggressive mentality, led by freshman Bayley Bruner. Bruner sent in a great service just a minute into the second half that challenged ASU keeper Chandler Morris for the first time. Following the play, some extra-curricular activity occurred as Lucy Lara blatantly elbowed Sofia Chambers, drawing a red card and an automatic ejection from lead official Levi Rippy.
As the Sun Devils were down to 10 players on the field, the Ducks put the pressure on as they looked to capitalize on the ASU mistake. Shots from Maryn Beutler and Miranda Schulz within two minutes of each other kept keeper Morris busy, but the redshirt senior held steady between the post and helped her team weather the storm. She finished with seven saves on the day.
The best opportunity for Oregon to get on the board came in the 87th minute when Taylor Kuroda caught the Sun Devil defense sleeping and sent in a bending service from the top left of the box. Marlo Sweatman made the run in but the junior was just a half-step too late and the ball went out the back of the box. From there, ASU was able to kill the clock and win out the match 1-0.
QUOTES:
Head Coach Kat Mertz:
“I thought we came out flat in the first half and ASU took advantage with the penalty kick. We played much better in the second half and created chances by creating good width. We’re looking forward to coming home and playing our last two home games in front of our fans.”
A GAME OF FIRSTS: With just three contests remaining, it isn’t common to have season-firsts happen so late in the season but today’s match featured two. It was the first time the Ducks have faced a penalty kick and also it is the first time a red card has been issued during a Duck contest.
NOTES AND NUMBERS: Freshman Bayley Bruner had one of her best matches of her young Duck career. The Draper, Utah native logged 57 minutes off the bench today. She had a single shot, which was on target, but she was aggressive from the forward position and helped the offense look much more cohesive in the second half. … The Ducks had seven total shots today with all seven being on target. Maryn Beutler led the way with two shots. In total, six different Oregon players recorded a shot today.
UP NEXT: The Ducks will head back to Papé Field for their final two home contests of the 2015 season. Up first on Friday afternoon is No. 25 Washington State at 4 p.m. The contest will be shown live on the Pac-12 Network. The Washington Huskies then come to town on Sunday afternoon. Oregon will be honoring its five seniors prior to the 1 p.m. kick-off.
