ASU soccer fell to the University of Hawaii at Mānoa 1-0 in its fourth over time game of the season.
The heart breaking goal that gave the Sun Devils (2-4-1) their fourth loss of the season and their second overtime loss at home came off of a questionable no-call from center referee Bennett Savage on what appeared to be a hand ball.
“From where I was looking, the girl handled it (the ball) and maybe I had a bad angle,” ASU head coach Graham Winkworth said. “From his angle I guess there wasn't a hand ball, but there looked like it was.”
With a no call, Hawaii took advantage of how stretched the ASU midfield was and junior midfielder Raisa Strom-Okimoto capitalized on the opportunity by slotting it past the out-reached arm of ASU freshman goalkeeper Nikki Panas.
Panas, however, had a superb night with nine saves on 20 shots from Hawaii. Panas, who is an active keeper off her line, explained that she does not regret the risk she took coming off the line on the game-winning goal from Hawaii.
“Ten times I come out and one goes past me. It's the risk I have to take on the tenth one,” Panas said. “I have to take it on my chest and I have to go forward with that.”
Panas was not the only keeper busy in this match, as the Sun Devils tested Hawaii junior goalkeeper Alexis Mata with 19 shots, forcing her to make eight saves.
The Sun Devils were unable to maintain possession for long periods of time as Hawaii pressed the ASU back four for the majority of the game. As a result, ASU struggled to come out of the back and were often times forced to play long or were forced into turnovers in their own defensive third.
“We tried to play possession in the first half, but obviously we had to change our game plan a little bit,” ASU senior right back Madison Stark said. “So we started going long just because they were high pressing us.”
Winkworth explained that he does take some responsibility for the struggle for possession of the ball this game.
“We’ve just thrown this system at them for a couple of training sessions and that’s on me,” Winkworth said. “At the same time we’ve got to show more composure in the the final third.”
The Sun Devils will look to bounce back on Sunday against Weber State University in their final home match before the start of Pac-12 conference play.
Reach the reporter at jaramo12@asu.edu or follow @hor_hay10 on Twitter.
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