TEMPE — Arizona soccer lost its third consecutive Big 12 contest with a 1-0 defeat to ASU on Friday night in a game that was delayed twice for lightning strikes in the area.
Missing head coach Becca Moros, who was suspended one game for receiving a red card in the Wildcats’ loss to Baylor, Arizona put together several good looks on offense but couldn’t convert inside the box.
Arizona dropped to 5-8-5 with the loss, which put out the last dimmer of hope that the Wildcats could qualify for the Big 12
Tournament.
ASU’s Kierra Blundell scored the game’s lone goal in the 66th minute to give the Sun Devils their first win in the Territorial Cup since 2022. UA goal keeper Lauryn Ziller conceded the goal.
ASU outshot 22-9 on the night, including 8 to 3 on shots on goal. The Sun Devils had four corner kicks to the Wildcats’ one.
Arizona assistant coach Nat Gonzalez filled in for Moros as she served her suspension. Gonzalez said preparation was normal leading up to the game.
“Becca was running all the sessions,” Gonzalez said. “We had a good game plan. We had to tweak the game plan a little bit once we saw who was starting for them. It wasn’t exactly what we’d seen for the last four games.
”We threw some stuff at the team. We told them after the game we threw a lot at them that was brand now, but I think at the end of the day our brand of soccer showed up.
The initial start time for the game was pushed back from 7:00 to 7:20 due to lightning. Right as players were ready to take the pitch, the start time got delayed further due to new lightning strikes within 10 miles of the stadium.
The game got going after 8 p.m. only for another lightning delay to interrupt the game midway through the first half.
After a sluggish first half, Arizona came out of halftime with a renewed urgency on offense. The Wildcats put together a string of threats, including one where the UA had the ball in the ASU box when a Sun Devils defender appeared to commit a hand ball. The referees reviewed the play and determined there was no hand ball.
“The one seemed like the most obvious, but you just don’t know,” Gonzalez said. “You have some referees — I’m not blaming the ref — the experience of what they see, is it on purpose? Is it natural positioning? We’ve heard it all and we’re just trying to figure out when is the right time to challenge.”
Mireya Stephenson led Arizona with three shots, one of them being on goal. Lily Boydstun had two shots.
Arizona concludes the season Thursday, Nov. 5 with a road match at TCU.
