ASU women's soccer (1-1) won in dramatic fashion Friday night, pulling off a thrilling 2-1 victory over the San Diego State Aztecs (1-2). This was the Sun Devils' first win of the season and Coach Graham Winkworth first career win as ASU Head Coach.
Senior forward Jessica Raybe scored the game-winning goal with a side-foot finish in the upper right corner in the 100th minute with only eight seconds left in overtime. Freshman forward Olive Jones assisted the goal with a textbook hold-up play within the penalty area and a simple layoff.
ASU had a total of 10 shots, including four on goal and the only shot of overtime, while the Aztecs had a total of nine shots with four on target.
Unfortunately, the theatrical ending was not indicative of the match as both the Sun Devils and the Aztecs struggled to find any sort of rhythm offensively and failed to create many scoring opportunities.
Defensively, however, the Sun Devils showed improvement in shape and organization by not only keeping a clean sheet for a majority of the game, but by also creating the few scoring opportunities off Aztec turnovers.
The first goal of the match did not come until the 42nd minute, off a forced Aztec turnover in their defensive third.
Junior forward Natalie Stephens capitalized on the turnover when she sent her header into the net off a beautifully assisted back post cross from sophomore midfielder Christina Edwards.
However, the Aztecs equalized in the 68th minute after a series of unbroken passes from San Diego State, which broke down the Sun Devils' defense and ended with San Diego State forward Angela Mitchell slotting a goal off of a low cross from forward Aliyah Utush.
ASU will take this much-needed road victory back to Tempe as they face Boston University on Sept. 1 at 7 p.m. MST.
Reach the reporter at jaramo12@asu.edu or follow @hor_hay10 on Twitter.
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