Arizona State (R)

here's something from a bit earlier...

https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=16634


https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=12286

 

ASU 3 UA 1

Eight straight...Anyone see the game? How did ASU look?
The season really gets going next weekend! We'll really see what the Sun Devils are made of... Bogus had seven shots...I certainly doubt USC and UCLA are going to give her that many looks. Put it's good to see other players getting in on the scoring...there going to need that. How's the D look?... looks like Ebner is back in the lineup after being out two weeks with a foot injury... LePeilbet scored again moving up from the back line, I guess on a set piece...

 

Anyone here familiar with Aisha Reed? She played at ASU in the late 90s. Now she is the new head coach of Albertson's College here in my neck of the woods.

 

Aisha Reed

There was a Aisha Thomas 96-98 according to ASU's Media Guide
8 goals in 52 games, 2 game winners, one assist

 

Heartbreaker

ASU in its toughest its test of the season thus far suffered a heartbreaking lose 2-1. Any one who was at the game though knows ASU played well enough to win. About midway through the second half I said to myself these two teams are even. Then ASU just turned it up and started playing like they were the much better team. Things started out good for ASU when Patrice Feulner put the Sundevils on top 1-0 and extend a streak to 21 consecutive games where ASU has scored at least one goal in a game. It wouldn't take long before USC evened the score though and the score would stand at 1-1 after one half of play. In the second half ASU had more than its share of chances. Manya Makoski started making incredible moves with the ball and finding her way into the box there were three times she came in just inches of finding the net at hit the post once, but the game would have to go to overtime. In overtime USC showed more offense but still ASU had good opportunities to score. The game would go to a second overtime. I was about ready to cal this a tie as the clock was running down towards zero. Kelly Fitzgerald, who played a great game in goal come up in the box to grab the ball, but there was a USC player near by and after a tangle with an ASU defender and Fitzgerald she was able to put in the game winner with 15 seconds left in the game.
This game was similar to the game two years ago when ASU lost in the final second of overtime to USC. ASU will have a tougher test Sunday when they play 6 ranked UCLA. ASU is a very physically fit team, but after a very up tempo game on Friday it will be intrusting how much ASU head coach choose to utilize his bench as many player will probably show signs of fatigue Sunday.

 

Ouch!!!

The Sun Devil's went from one extreme to the other...from Friday's nice performance to Sunday's humm... not show up. What happened? There was no energy out there, good thing Fitz in goal kept the Bruins at bay in the first half. Second half they improved slightly, but not enough for the talented Bruins. You can't give them that much room and expect to stay in the game. Well they have played well all year...they just had one of those games. Nice to see some of the bench get a chance to play, Hillary Wilson in goal did a great job. So it's time to move on to the Oregon schools...and I know they'll get it together...WE LOVE OUR DEVILS!

 

rankings

After ASU's sweep over the Oregon schools they have moved up to number #17 in the Soccer America poll which up three spots from last week. In the NSCAA poll, a poll that have not been ranked in all season they finally broke in to their rankings at #24. Last week there were ranked 23 in Soccer Buzz's poll and should move up their ranking come out Tuesday, also the coach's poll comes out on Tuesday last week they received 6 votes which was not enough to make it in the top 25. This weekend ASU host Washington State at 7 P.M. on Friday night and Washington at 11 A.M. on Sunday. These are the last two home matches during the regular season. Lets all try to come out and support our devils!

 

Past Weekend

The Devil's continued their UCLA type performance on Friday, but managed to hold on for the 1-0 win...we'll take it. The lineup change has really thrown a wrench in the flow of things. But Sunday it all came together as the Devil's took it to the Ducks winning 2-1...the score doesn't show the dominance that took place...they needed to get it together before Washington and Washington State this weekend...both are playing very well.
Tailgate party starts around 5 p.m. and the pre-tailgate starts at 4 p.m.(ha ha)
Game is supposed to be televised on Fox Sports Net.
SO BE THERE WITH ALL YOUR DEVIL GEAR AND LOAD VOICES!!!!

 

Unfortunately, the devils need to pull off a quality win if they want to get into the tourney. To date, they have no quality wins. Utah, BYU, Cal, WSU, Oregon State, Wash, all have quality wins over the likes of Texas, Santa Clara's and Portlands. ASU has beaten up on a pretty soft schedule. THey need to beat a Wash, Cal or Stanford or they might be sitting home.

 

Soft??

Utah & BYU beat Portland when Sinclair wasn't around, w/Sinclair...well you know the story...BYU beat injury riddled Notre Dame other than that nobody. Utah also lost to Oregon and has played nobody else! Wash St tied Washington...good result beat Cal...but Cal is struggling. Oregon St...nobody...but seems to be playing well, but losing to quality teams in the PAC10! Washington is doing very well! But playing Pepperdine, Denver, Baylor, Auburn, and an unfortunate loss to USC, thumped by UCLA... is not a soft schedule. This weekend I agree is very important for the Sun Devils...but if they play like they're capable of...they'll get the respect.
GO DEVILS!

 

I did not say they did not play anybody, just that they haven't gotten the quality win(s) that the tourney committee looks for. Baylor is in 11th place in the Big 12. They will not rate at all as a quality win. Pepperdine and Denver were ties. They do not rate ties as good or bad on the committee. Auburn has a fat record, but has not beaten a top 25 opponent to my recollection. They will not have a high rating in the committees mind.

As much as cal may be struggling, they have some GREAT results so they will be looked at as a high quality team. So WSU and Wash just picked up BIG wins last weekend against them. Notre Dame has some good wins so BYU's win will look good. It is all about beating teams who are rated highly (not in the b.s. rankings, but in true statistical ratings). As for beating Portland without Sinclair, the selection committee will not take that into consideration. A win is a win. So chalk one up for BYU and Utah. Just like they won't say ASU beat OSU but got outshot by quite a bit.

The thing you have going for yourself is no bad losses. A loss to WSU this weekend could really hurt. A split keeps you in the hunt. Remember, beating Stanford wasn't enough last year and you do not have a win like that yet.

 

Agree

I agree...their pre-season schedule (need a lot more ranked opponents) was left over from the last coach...I'm sure Leone has taken care of that for next season. Well hopefully we'll have some more to talk about after Sunday!
GO DEVILS!

 

I don't think the non-conference schedule was bad, they just were unlucky that some teams did not perform up to expectations (Baylor, Georgia, Auburn, SMU) and they missed the win at Pepperdine. Georgia should have been a quality win, but they did not pan out this year. Obviously Pepperdine was a great opportunity. With the Pac-10 so strong, you just need to pick up wins against the upper echelon in the conference. I actually think the schedule was very good. You just have to get a couple more wins the rest of the way.

You should have had 4 top 20 teams on your non-conference alone (SMU, Pepp, Georgia, and Auburn). Along with at least 5 ranked Pac teams. I think that is a great schedule. Can't blame the old coach for that. Besides, Leone has been there 2-3 years already, I think he could have his say and I know first hand that most schedules are not finalized until the spring prior. Besides, have you ever looked at the way he scheduled at Clemson??? Very weak non-conference. In fairness, he played in the brutal ACC. Balance is key. You guys have been the victims of others failures (opponents underachieving).

 

ASU lost 1-0 to Washington State tonight.

 

ASU was able to defeat Washington for the first time in school history with a 2-1 victory Sunday afternoon. ASU started out real slow unable to create any scoring opportunities and Washington had ASU on their heels. ASU was able to prevent any goals from Washington, and late in the half ASU got their offense going. As Patrice scored the first goal of the game with just about four minutes reaming before the end of the half, and no more then two minutes later Manya put in a goal. In the second half Washington cut the lead in half with an early goal but would not come any closer. ASU played a very good match and with the victory they have improved their chances of making the post season very greatly. Next week they end their regular season in the bay area against Cal and top ranked Stanford. A win would just about clinch a spot in the post season while a sweep could even give them home field advantage for the first two rounds of the tournament. Some other top 25 teams would probably have to lose for that to happen though. The top 4 seeds in each bracket host the first two rounds of the tournament.

 

up for chance

Will the team had a rough weekend in the bay area. On Friday they drop out to Stanford by a score of 2-0. So Sunday's match against Cal was for fifth place in the Pac-10 and most likely a place in the tournament. I made the trip to Berkley to watch the game live. It started out with both teams playing well and having their chances. Eventually Cal would score first of a corner kick about midway through the first half. After that Cal started out playing ASU for the most. Manya though beat the defense and had a one on one with the Cal goaltender and a chance to tie it before half. She took that shoot just a little early and the shoot went wide if she would a waited just a second or two later for the goaltender to come out a little bite further she probably would have scored. Once the second half started the Devils had to fight hard just to stay with in one goal and they were getting help from the referees in doing so. Yet the Devils chances came few and far between. In the 85 minute though the Devils finally broke through and tied the match at 1 a piece with an excellent goal. That goal was just what the Devils needed to jump start their offense after that goal they started attacking more. Yet very late in the game the Devils had a throw in deep on their side of the field and before the devils could clear the ball out of their zone Cal would score the game winning goal in the final minute of the game. With this winless weekend and finishing with a 1-3 record down the stretch the Devils leave a very thin line for hope of getting into the tournament. It will pretty much come down to how many teams got an automatic bid by winning the conference tournament and would not have gotten in otherwise.

 

to the second round

Will ASU played much better tonight than they did back on November first as they avenged their 1-0 lose to WSU and defeated WSU 2-1 when it counted the most. Both of ASU's goals came in the first half and it sounds as though they played very well. It is not final yet but Santa Clara is blowing out Creighton. So barring a miracle comeback ASU will face Santa Clara in the second round on Sunday at 1:00 P.M. PST. And they winner of that game will play the winner of Yale vs. Nebraska in the sweet sixteen. Lets all hope the devils will be there in the sweet sixteen.